Department for Transport

Airports: National Policy Statements

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on a review of the Airports National Policy Statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: We do not comment on the details of discussions between Cabinet ministers.We are still considering the Court of Appeal’s complex judgment. At this stage the Government will not be able to make any further comment beyond what was set out in the Written Statement on 27 February from the Secretary of State for Transport.

Airports: National Policy Statements

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2020 to Question 20541, for what reasons his Department has not yet published a review of the Airports National Policy Statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Court of Appeal has ruled that the designation of the Airports National Policy Statement has no legal effect unless and until this Government carries out a review. It is a complex judgment which the Government will need time to consider carefully. At this stage the Government will not be able to make any further comment beyond what was set out in the Written Statement on 27 February from the Secretary of State for Transport.

Southampton Airport: Air Routes

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with airlines on taking on routes previously served by Flybe from Southampton Airport.

Kelly Tolhurst: Departmental officials and I have been working closely with airports and airlines to encourage them to act quickly to fill routes which are vital for local communities and businesses, including those from Southampton Airport. A number of airlines, including Loganair and Eastern Airways, will now take on routes previously served by Flybe at Southampton Airport.

Railways: Concessions

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to encourage train operating companies to establish a rail to refuge scheme for people experiencing domestic abuse.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The railway is much more than trains and rail track and we want to encourage wider support for the communities that it serves. The ‘Rail to Refuge’ initiative is certainly a scheme that I am keen to endorse. It complements our drive to protect vulnerable children and adults at risk whilst they are travelling within the rail network through the Safeguarding on Rail Scheme, which came into existence during 2019 and is now a franchising obligation that Train Operating Companies will be required to adopt in new/future franchise competitions and awards.

Railways: Uckfield

Tom Tugendhat: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2020 to Question 19978 on Railways: Uckfield, what his Department's timescale is for deciding what will replace class 171 rolling stock on the Uckfield Line.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Govia Thameslink Railway is in discussions with the Department to identify future requirements for the Uckfield line. However, these discussions are at a very early stage, and therefore we do not have any confirmed plans in place at this time. Further updates on this matter including timescales will be provided when it is appropriate to do so.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Calvert

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendation in the Oakervee Review that passive provision be made for a High Speed Two station at Calvert.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government is still in the process of considering all of the conclusions in the Oakervee Report and their implications. It is looking at providing its response, including on question of passive provision for an additional station, in due course.

Air Routes: Coronavirus

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives of airlines on the potential relaxation of slot allocation rules during the covid-19 pandemic.

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives of the European Commission on the potential relaxation of slot allocation rules during the covid-19 pandemic.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Secretary of State for Transport wrote to the European Commission on two separate occasions, asking for urgent action to be taken on alleviation from the 80:20 slot usage rules to avoid ‘ghost planes’, and protect both airlines and the environment. These letters are publicly available and follow ongoing discussions across industry about the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, including two recent airline ‘roundtable’ calls which I hosted. As a result, on 13 March the European Commission granted further alleviation until June 2020. We welcome this response and continue to engage across the sector on this matter.

Bus Services: Finance

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding he plans to allocate from the public purse to improving bus services in the financial years (a) 2020-2021, (b) 2021-2022, (c) 2022-2023 and (d) 2023-2024.

Rachel Maclean: Allocations for future funding for 2021/22 and beyond are subject to the upcoming Spending Review due to conclude in July. On February 2020 the PM announced a 5-year package of £5 billion of new funding to overhaul bus and cycling links across England outside of London. The Department for Transport has set the following budget for 2020/21:£259 million for Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) and a budget of £220m for the ‘Better Deal for Bus Users’ package. Further to this, in previous years local authorities have spent: Around £1 billion spent by local authorities on Concessionary Travel for disabled and older people using non-ringfenced funding provided by MHCLG; and£930 million of support that local authorities provide for bus services from their own funds, including Government's grant to them.

Bus Services: Finance

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the announcement by the Prime Minister on 11 February 2020 of £5 billion to improve bus and cycling services over the next five years, how much and what proportion of that amount will be allocated to bus services.

Rachel Maclean: The details of the £5 billion of new funding to overhaul bus and cycle links for every region outside London will be announced in the upcoming National Bus Strategy, to be published later this year at the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Bus Services: Urban Areas

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to reduce bus journey times in urban areas in England.

Rachel Maclean: Local Authorities are responsible for the management of their local highway networks and the Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools local authorities need to improve local bus services. Notwithstanding that, as part of the £220 million Better Deal for Bus Users package the Government announced in September 2019, it has set aside up to £70 million for ‘Superbus’ pilots. The primary objective of this fund is “to increase bus patronage in an area through a package of measures covering bus priority”. The fund is currently open for expressions of interest. The Government has also set out that £5 billion of funding will be provided to overhaul bus services and cycle links across the country. Further details of how this funding will be allocated will be set out in the National Bus Strategy later this year. This is all in addition to the £2.5 billion Transforming Cities Fund which will provide an opportunity for the industry to work with local authorities on tackling congestion.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Hygiene and Protective clothing: Coronavirus

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to ensure that supplies of (a) hand sanitiser and (b) face masks are not rapidly depleted by panic buying as a result of covid-19.

Nadhim Zahawi: The UK is well prepared for this type of outbreak; we are taking all necessary precautions to protect the public, including engaging with industry and the business community to discuss their preparedness planning. We will continue to work closely with sectors, companies, and business representative organisations to ensure we are fully aware of the issues and impacts businesses are facing and how we can best provide support. In order to help the industry respond to Covid-19, the Government has announced that it will work with local authorities to extend the hours in which deliveries can be made to supermarkets and other food retailers. This will allow retailers to increase the frequency of their deliveries and move stock more quickly from warehouses to shelves.

Skilled Workers: Females

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the number of women working in skilled jobs in the energy sector.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Government is committed to working collaboratively with businesses to create inclusive workplaces and, through this, boost productivity. Sector Deals offer an opportunity for sectors and government to make joint, long-term commitments on diversity and increase the proportion of underrepresented groups. Our agreed Nuclear, Offshore Wind and Aerospace Sector Deals include commitments to increase diversity in these sectors, including establishing the Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter. The Offshore Wind Sector Deal, set a minimum target of employing 33 per cent women across the sector by 2030 and raising this figure to 40 per cent if feasible. The Nuclear Sector Deal published on 28 June 2018 also has a commitment to achieve 40% women in nuclear by 2030.

Carbon Emissions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to include aviation and shipping emissions in the UK’s Nationally Determined Contribution in advance of COP26 in November 2020; if he will advocate for other countries to do the same; and if he will make a statement.

Kwasi Kwarteng: As part of our incoming COP Presidency, we are urging all countries to come forward with ambitious new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) which represent their highest possible ambition. The UK will play a key part and come forward with an enhanced NDC well ahead of COP26.The UK continues to lead international efforts on cost-effective emissions reduction in the international aviation and shipping sectors, working through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).  Emissions from domestic flights and shipping are already covered by our domestic legislation and the CCC account for international flights and shipping in their advice on setting our carbon budgets.

Agriculture: Heating

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has made to Cabinet colleagues on the interests of British farming in relation to the Government's (a) forthcoming heat policy roadmap and (b) plans to renew the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Department engages regularly with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, at both ministerial and official level, on the interests of British Farming on a range of issues. This includes the biogas and biomethane technologies included under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).   The RHI has funding confirmed for new deployment of renewable heat technologies until 31 March 2021. The Budget on 11 March confirmed a new allocation of flexible tariff guarantees on the non-domestic RHI and announced a new support scheme for biomethane production to increase the proportion of green gas in the grid, funded by a Green Gas Levy.We are planning to publish a Heat and Building Strategy later this year, which will set out the immediate actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings and an ambitious programme of work required to enable key strategic decisions to set us on a path to Net Zero by 2050. We are currently developing policies to deliver low carbon heating in the 2020s and meet our climate targets which we will consult on with a wider range of stakeholders including British Farmers.

Music: Copyright

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the annual cost to the UK music industry of unpaid copyright payments.

Amanda Solloway: The Government has made no assessment of the annual cost to the UK music industry of unpaid copyright payments. Copyright licensing is a private, commercial matter between the parties concerned and the Government is not involved in these agreements.

Arts: Copyright

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the gross cost to UK artists of copyright payments avoided in the UK.

Amanda Solloway: The Government has made no assessment of the gross cost to UK artists of copyright payments avoided in the UK. Copyright licensing is a private, commercial matter between the parties concerned and the Government is not involved in these agreements.

WH Smith: Post Offices

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of potential effect of WH Smith's profit warning on the sustainability of Post Office branches in WH Smith's premises.

Paul Scully: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Israel: Palestinians

James Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2020 to Question 13562 on Politics and Government, whether he has made an assessment of the adherence of the US Administration's framework for a Palestinian state to the statehood criteria of (a) ability to exercise effective control of territory and (b) independence in their external relations.

James Cleverly: The United Kingdom supports Palestinians in realising self-determination through a negotiated settlement leading to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state. We hope that the US initiative may lead to a first step on the road back to negotiations. It is through such negotiations that the parties will determine the specifics of how the aim of two states is to be achieved.

Gaza: Israel

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken in relation to the shooting of civilians across the Gaza border by the Israel Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement.

James Cleverly: The Government is very concerned at the high numbers of Palestinians killed by Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank and Gaza. We have repeatedly made clear to Israel our longstanding concerns about the manner in which the Israel Defense Forces police the border areas, including the use of live ammunition. We call on Israel to adhere to the principles of necessity and proportionality when defending its legitimate security interest. We also encourage them to carry out transparent investigations into whether the use of live fire had been appropriate. We did so most recently at the UN Security Council on 21 January.

Togo: Election Observers

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Togo Government on the benefits of independent domestic election observation.

James Duddridge: We welcomed the largely peaceful conduct of Togo's presidential election on 22 February, and the deployment of election observers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union. The UK participated in an unofficial election monitoring mission with the UN in Lomé. We were however deeply concerned that Togo's Electoral Commission revoked the election observer license of the National Consultation of Civil Society of Togo on 18 February, preventing 600 independent observers from participating.

Arms Trade: Exports

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on the export of (a) arms and (b) crowd control devices to overseas governments that his Department has classified as (i) non-democratic and (ii) oppressive.

James Cleverly: Risks around human rights violations or abuses form a core part of the assessment of export licence applications, and are a key factor in the approval or denial of a licence. We do not export equipment where we assess there is a clear risk that it might be used for internal repression. A careful assessment of equipment, potential end use and end user is central to the assessment process. When making assessments, we draw on a range of sources including the media, international organisations, our diplomatic posts, from across Government and reports from our overseas networks.

Guyana: Violence

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Guyana on the recent outbreak of violence in that country; and what diplomatic steps he is taking to help ensure a peaceful and democratic resolution in that country.

Wendy Morton: The United Kingdom is deeply concerned by the events following the elections in Guyana on 2 March 2020. The Foreign Secretary issued a statement on 10 March, calling upon President Granger to preserve the principle of free, fair and credible elections. A fair and free process is vital for the maintenance and reinforcement of peaceful democracy in Guyana, and we call upon the president to ensure that proper procedures are followed before embarking upon a transition of government. Failure to do so will have implications for leading figures in Guyana and for the country as a whole.We remain in close contact with the Guyanese authorities about the situation, and stand ready to offer assistance to ensure a credible election result is produced.

Owner Occupation: Brexit

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps are being taken to protect the rights of British property owners in the EU after the end of the transition period.

Wendy Morton: The rights of UK nationals who own property in the EU will not change after the end of the transition period. All EU Member States are bound by Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which obliges them to respect property rights. This includes those who own property, own property shares and those who own a property and let it to tenants.The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is providing UK Nationals living in the EU with the most up to date information about their rights on the "Living In" country guides on GOV.UK.

Diplomatic Service: British Nationals Abroad

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to strengthen consular support for UK nationals overseas.

Nigel Adams: Consular support is tailored to the individual circumstances of each case, and prioritises those that need help the most. A key aspect of our support is prevention to help British people keep safe overseas, including representations to authorities overseas to make local environments safer for British people. Where this is not possible we may advise against travel. The Foreign Secretary announced today that we advise against all but essential travel for the next 30 days due to the current outbreak of Covid19, which has affected our ability to provide consular support.We have specialist teams working on forced marriage, murder, kidnap and cases involving those on death row or at risk of the death penalty. Additionally we work with, and fund, other organisations where these are better placed to provide support, or have specialist skills that we need including the Victim Support Homicide Service, Lucie Blackman Trust, and (for detainees) Prisoners Abroad.

Afghanistan: Peace Negotiations

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the ceasefire between coalition forces and the Taliban in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Nigel Adams: The recent reduction in violence is a welcome respite for Afghans. It is clear that there is no military solution to the conflict.The US-Taliban agreement is a positive milestone. It is important that talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government start soon to maintain momentum.The UK is committed to supporting the Afghan people, including through our contribution to NATO Resolute Support Mission.

Cabinet Office

Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Public Appointments

John Healey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2020 to Question 25623 on Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Public Appointments, if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract entered into with the search company appointed to recruit a replacement panel member.

Chloe Smith: As part of the Government transparency agenda, it is a legal requirement for central Government Departments to publish all awarded contracts over £10,000 in value on the Contracts Finder website. Once a contract for this recruitment has been finalised and signed it will be published in the usual way.

Cabinet Office: Written Questions

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to Questions 23469 and 25181 tabled on 4 March 2020 by the hon. Member for Slough.

Chloe Smith: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer which I gave to PQ 25181 on 13 March 2020 and to PQ 23469 on 16 March 2020.

Revenue and Customs: Redundancy Pay

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for voluntary exit payments for HMRC staff aged over 60 of the tribunal ruling in Ms J Elliot v Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Chloe Smith: It is not appropriate to comment on a case that is currently subject to ongoing legal proceedings.

Department of Health and Social Care

Nabiximols: Multiple Sclerosis

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Sativex for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

Jo Churchill: The Department has made no recent assessment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) most recent assessment of Sativex was published in November 2019 and is available on the NICE website at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng144/chapter/Recommendations#spasticity

Pharmacy

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the pharmacy industry on increasing the use of pharmacists through the minor ailments scheme to relieve pressure on GPs and A&E services.

Jo Churchill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 March to Question 23407.

Dental Services: Training

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing free training in practice management to encourage newly qualified dentists to establish their own practices.

Jo Churchill: Health Education England is responsible for coordinating and quality assuring training places for postgraduate dental training.Dental Foundation Training (DFT) consists of supervised practice in primary care and aims to prepare Foundation Dentists to be independent practitioners within General Dental Practice.The DFT curriculum covers the principles of staff recruitment and employment legislation, risk assessment in the workplace, maintenance of patients’ information, records and of equipment for dental practice. This is an integral part of the DFT programme delivered through day sessions and education supervisor dedicated tutorials.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that women with a family history of cervical cancer are given cervical cancer screening when they request it, regardless of (a) age and (b) time since their last smear test.

Jo Churchill: Having a family history of cervical cancer does not affect your chances of developing the disease; most cervical cancers are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). Regular cervical screening is one of the best ways to identify abnormal changes in the cells of the cervix at an early stage.Evidence shows that using HPV primary screening within the NHS Cervical Screening Programme offers a more sensitive and effective way to let women know whether they have any risk of developing cervical cancer. If the individual tested does not have high risk HPV (high risk HPV is found in 99.7% of cervical cancers), her chances of developing a cancer within five years are very small.The UK National Screening Committee recommends that anyone experiencing any unusual symptoms, such as abnormal bleeding, should contact their general practitioner who will then decide on the most appropriate next steps and diagnostic tests.

Coronavirus: Supermarkets

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to delay the transmission of covid-19 in supermarkets.

Jo Churchill: The spread of COVID-19 is most likely to happen when there is close contact (within two metres or less) with an infected person. It is likely that the risk increases the longer someone has close contact with an infected person.We have issued guidance to assist employers and businesses in providing advice to staff. This guidance for workplace environments, including supermarkets, can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/guidance-for-employers-and-businesses-on-covid-19#how-covid-19-is-spread

Eating Disorders: Health Services

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives from the General Medical Council on the implementation of the recommendations made by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s in its report entitled, Ignoring the alarms: How NHS eating disorder services are failing patients, published in December 2017.

Ms Nadine Dorries: In response to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report, a working group has been set up to address the recommendations and ensure they feed into planned improvements to eating disorder services. The group meets every quarter and includes representatives from the Department and the General Medical Council (GMC) The GMC, at the request of the Department, held a roundtable on 21 November 2019 to discuss steps to improve education, knowledge and skills in the recognition and treatment of eating disorders. The GMC is also working with the Faculty of Eating Disorders, Beat and other key stakeholders, including medical schools and Health Education England, to explore how education and training in eating disorders can be strengthened through the development of a common understanding and shared resources.

Eating Disorders

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what statutory responsibilities the General Medical Council has to ensure that doctors have sufficient (a) knowledge and (b) clinical skills to (i) identify and (ii) treat patients with eating disorders.

Helen Whately: Undergraduate training is set by individual Medical Royal Colleges against standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC) and the curricula for postgraduate specialty training.The GMC’s General Professional Capabilities Framework sets out the essential generic capabilities needed for safe, effective and high-quality medical care in the United Kingdom. The framework, which the GMC requires colleges to embed in all curricula, covers the knowledge, skills and behaviours that a doctor must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.Diagnosing and treating eating disorders is an important area of medical practice. It is included within the curriculum for all doctors, including for general practitioners (where most eating disorders initially present) and in more depth within training for psychiatry, particularly child and adolescent psychiatry.

Eating Disorders: Children and Young People

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS report entitled Stepping forward to 2021, the mental health workforce plan for England, published in July 2017, what assessment his Department has made of the progress made by (a) Health Education England and (b) the partners of that organisation on meeting the target of recruiting 30 consultant psychiatrists for community eating disorder services for children and young people by 2020-2021.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health set out the improvements expected in mental health services by 2021. This is underpinned by the report Stepping Forward to 2021 – the mental health workforce plan for England.As at November 2019, there are 661 consultants working in child and adolescent psychiatry1 this is 33 (or 5.3%) more than in 2010. Data are not collected on the number of consultant psychiatrists working within children and young people’s eating disorder services.Through their program of work, Enhancing Junior Doctors Working Lives, Health Education England (HEE) is promoting the benefits of psychiatry training. HEE has also increased the number of Psychiatry placements available for junior doctors undertaking foundation training.Note:1Data taken from NHS Hospital and Community Health (HCHS) data set.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on the development of a vaccine for covid-19.

Jo Churchill: The Government continues to work with The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, who provide expert medical scientific advice, as well as other medical professionals to actively review the situation as there is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice has been issued to health visitors and community nurses visiting (a) elderly patients and (b) people with underlying health conditions on reducing the risk of covid-19 transmission.

Jo Churchill: People returning from some areas of the world are being told to self-isolate depending on the location they have visited and their symptoms. People who have been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 are also being advised by their local Health Protection Team to self-isolate. People who are self-isolating and have no symptoms do not pose a risk to others. They are self-isolating to allow closer monitoring in order to identify early symptoms, and to enable prompt medical action if required.Social, community and residential care staff should ascertain if a person is in self-isolation and if they are asymptomatic or symptomatic prior to their visit. If they are self -isolating and a visit is deemed necessary, then a full risk assessment should be undertaken with managers and infection control specialist to decide the best course of action.If during a telephone consultation with a patient or their representative to assess their suitability for a domiciliary visit, it is thought that COVID-19 is possible (based on the Public Health England criteria for a possible case), then a face-to-face assessment must be avoided. Instead, call NHS 111 and arrange for a clinical assessment to be made before proceeding.

Autism

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has put in place to (a) mark and (b) support world autism awareness week between 30 March and 5 April 2020.

Helen Whately: The Government is committed to supporting autistic people to live healthy, independent lives and to participate in their local communities. We are currently considering our plans to mark and support World Autism Awareness Week 2020.

Genito-urinary Medicine: Clinics

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to increase access to sexual health clinics.

Jo Churchill: More people are accessing sexual health services, with consultations increasing by 15% between 2014 and 2018. To help manage this overall increase in demand, local authorities have been utilising technology to manage lower risk and asymptomatic patients. Free, confidential online services which are convenient for patients are increasingly being commissioned. As these services develop, more people will be able to access them.

Public Health: Finance

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has allocated to local authorities for the provision of public health services in each of the last five years.

Jo Churchill: Information on public health grant allocations to local authorities for each of the last five years to 2019/20 is attached.   



27011 table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 27.34 KB)

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce the number of cases of (a) gonorrhoea and (b) syphilis.

Jo Churchill: In June 2019, Public Health England (PHE) published a Syphilis Action Plan to improve the detection, surveillance and clinical management of syphilis at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syphilis-public-health-england-action-planTo reduce the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including gonorrhoea and syphilis, PHE launched the ‘Protect Against STIs’ health promotion campaign in 2017/18 to promote condom use and positive sexual relationships among 16 to 24-year olds. This campaign can be viewed at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/protect-against-stis-use-a-condom/homeAdditionally, HIV Prevention England has been contracted to deliver a HIV prevention programme aimed at gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men; black Africans; and other groups in whom there is a higher or emerging burden of infection. This programme promotes, among other behaviours, condom use and awareness of STIs including gonorrhoea and syphilis. More information on this programme can be found at the following link:http://www.hivpreventionengland.org.uk/

Social Services: Coronavirus

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that people administering adult social care are able to identify early stage symptoms of covid-19.

Helen Whately: Public Health England has outlined information on signs and symptoms of COVID-19 within the ‘Guidance for social or community care and residential settings’ which is available to view at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-social-or-community-care-and-residential-settings-on-covid-19/guidance-for-social-or-community-care-and-residential-settings-on-covid-19#signs-and-symptoms-of-covid-19

Cancer: Dental Services

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing free dental care to cancer patients.

Jo Churchill: Cancer is a priority for this Government, and we want everyone to have access to affordable, high quality dental care. Introducing any new illness-related exemption would carry potential resource implications for the National Health Service and we do need to consider carefully how any financial support for dental care is focused towards those most in need.Cancer patients are able to apply for exemption from NHS dental charges on income grounds, including partial help through the NHS Low Income Scheme. The full range of exemptions for dental treatment can be found on the NHS Business Services Authority website at the following link:www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/help-nhs-dental-costsAs stated in the NHS Long Term Plan every person diagnosed with cancer, where appropriate will have access to personalised care by 2021, delivered in line with the NHS Comprehensive Model for Personalised Care. This will allow those people manage their care and the impact of their cancer and maximise the potential of digital and community-based support.Although this support is or will soon be available to many people with cancer, improving access to dentistry for any person with a cancer diagnosis, during and following treatment, is something we are looking at closely. I recently met with the organiser of a campaign on free dental treatment for people with cancer to discuss what more we can do. We will be considering how we can further raise awareness amongst patients and clinicians about the importance of dental check-ups for many people with cancer, and how NHS England might ensure better access to dentistry for any cancer patient who needs it.

Liver Diseases: Diagnosis

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve diagnosis rates for liver disease.

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish a national strategy for liver disease.

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the diagnosis process for liver disease.

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to increase the use of local liver mobile screening units.

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to tackle regional variation in the early diagnosis of liver disease.

Helen Whately: From April 2020 a new National Health Service CQUIN (Commissioning for Quality and Innovation framework) will be introduced to support early identification of cirrhosis and enhanced fibrosis in alcohol dependent individuals. The CQUIN will incentivise acute and mental health providers to ensure that appropriate tests (transient elastography, enhanced liver fibrosis or STLT blood tests) are carried out on in-patients who have a diagnosis of alcohol dependence.The delivery of the national CQUIN to support early identification of cirrhosis and enhanced fibrosis against a standard set of criteria will support tackling regional variation.Specialised commissioning is also supporting a programme to identify people with hepatitis C infection at an early stage to avoid subsequent liver disease.In 2019/20, Public Health England (PHE) awarded £6 million capital funding to 23 local authorities to support their ambitions to increase access to alcohol treatment. This includes supporting nine areas to purchase fibroscan machines to increase early detection and access to treatment for those with alcohol-related liver disease.PHE is also supporting work to increase opportunities for the earlier detection of alcohol-related liver disease in people drinking at or above high-risk levels. This includes new NHS Health Check guidance to encourage referral for liver investigation.Additionally, the rollout of optimal Alcohol Care Teams across England in the areas with the highest rates of alcohol dependence-related admissions will improve the care pathway, including the use of appropriate diagnostics, for patients and their families who have issues with alcohol dependence.

NHS Walk-in Centres

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS GP walk-in centres there are in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS GP walk-in centres have closed in the last two years; what the reason was for each of those closures; how many walk-in centres are being considered for closure within the next two years; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of NHS GP walk-in centre closures on (a) demand on (i) hospital accident and emergency departments, (ii) ambulance services and (iii) nearby GP practices and (b) access to healthcare for tourists, temporary students, office workers, rough sleepers and other patients with enhanced needs for walk-in treatment in town centres; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) value for money of NHS GP walk-in centres; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: The Department does not hold a recent definitive figure for the number of walk-in-centres (WiCs) nationally. WiCs were developed locally and over time the nomenclature for them and the services they offer have overlapped with other services such as Minor Injury Units and Urgent Care Centres.Due to this difficulty in specifically identifying WiCs, it is not possible to identify the number of closures. Because WICs are managed locally, information on them, as well on demand for and access to services across local health services, is not held centrally.As WiCs were developed locally, their effectiveness and cost effectiveness is a local issue. However, a limited study was undertaken by Monitor, the organisation formerly responsible for ensuring healthcare provision in NHS England, and now part of NHS Improvement. This covered the period 2010-13 and consulted patients, walk-in centre providers, general practitioners, commissioners and other stakeholders in the sector.

Medical Treatments

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 3.61 of the NHS Long-Term Plan, what steps he is taking to ensure that the next generation of treatments are implemented rapidly across the NHS.

Jo Churchill: The Cancer Drugs Fund will be extended to create a new Innovative Medicines Fund so that doctors can use the most advanced, life-saving treatments for conditions such as autoimmune disease or cancer, or for children with other rare diseases.Detailed proposals for the new Innovative Medicines Fund are in development and will be consulted on in due course. The will extend the successes of the reformed Cancer Drugs Fund into other areas.

NHS: ICT

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce NHS staff login times.

Ms Nadine Dorries: This Government has announced that it will provide £40 million to reduce National Health Service staff login times, tackling one of the main technology frustrations facing NHS staff.NHSX is leading on a programme to deliver faster access to systems using this money. Discovery work is underway and a milestone plan is currently being developed that will include the roll out of single-sign on where appropriate.The discovery work will also look at helping organisations speed up access to systems and simplify logon processes for their staff.Harnessing the best technology will improve care for patients and reduce burden on staff.

Coronavirus: Hearing Impairment

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that accessible Government advice on covid-19 is provided to people (a) who use British Sign Language as their primary language and (b) with hearing loss.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 16 March 2020



All guidance, statements and public information released by the Government are readily available to read online. Information on COVID-19 from Public Health England and the Department is translated into British Sign Language videos can be found at the following link:https://www.signhealth.org.uk/In addition to this, the Chancellor has advised that the National Health Service will get whatever resources it needs to cope with a COVID-19 epidemic.

Coronavirus: Health Services

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure  NHS compliance with the Accessible Information Standard in the event that more NHS services are delivered online and by phone because of the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 16 March 2020



NHS England has undertaken significant communications activities to raise awareness of the Accessible Information Standard with organisations required to implement and follow it, including National Health Service trusts. A range of resources have been made available to support effective implementation and compliance. Conformance with the Standard is a specific legal duty – as set out in section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. It is also a requirement of the NHS Standard Contract.In developing the Standard, we have worked alongside a number of partners, including the Care Quality Commission, who have stated that they will be looking at how services implement the Accessible Information Standard as part of their inspections.

Coronavirus: Intensive Care

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS intensive care units have (a) appropriate facilities and (b) adequate resources to help save the lives of patients worst affected by covid-19.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 16 March 2020



The Chancellor recently advised that the National Health Service will get the resources it needs to cope with a COVID-19 epidemic.The NHS is currently scaling up intensive care beds. NHS England is looking at critical care capacity - including the availability of additional facilities of independent sector providers.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what scientific advice he has received on the risk of transmission of covid-19 in public gatherings.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 16 March 2020



Our approach has been, and will continue to be, guided by the evidence and latest advice from medical experts, including the Chief Medical Officer.It is absolutely critical in managing the spread of this virus that we take the right decisions at the right time based on the latest and best evidence.The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies meets regularly to discuss relevant issues, including scientific evidence related to public gatherings.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) paramedics, (b) ambulance technicians, (c) A&E medical staff and (d) ICU and ITU medical staff have not yet received protective equipment and fitted masks to enable them to safely treat patients diagnosed with or showing symptoms of covid-19; and what steps he is taking to make more protective equipment available to such staff.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 16 March 2020



All guidance is published on GOV.UK and standard operating procedures are published on NHS England and NHS Improvement’s website. Guidance is also available to healthcare professionals on NHS England and NHS Improvement’s website, with specific guidance for those in primary care, secondary care, community based health and social care and ambulance services. This includes information on Personal Protective Equipment as well as infection prevention and control guidance. More information can be found at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/872745/Infection_prevention_and_control_guidance_for_pandemic_coronavirus.pdf

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to protect NHS staff from infection from covid-19.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 16 March 2020



‘COVID-19: Guidance for infection prevention and control in healthcare settings’ has been published and can be found at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/872745/Infection_prevention_and_control_guidance_for_pandemic_coronavirus.pdf

Health Services: Cleaning Services

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has published on cleaning (a) GP surgeries and (b) other medical facilities after exposure to covid-19; and what guidance his Department has published on ensuring that local cleaning companies carrying out such work at those facilities are appropriately trained.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 16 March 2020



‘COVID-19: Guidance for infection prevention and control in healthcare settings’ has been published which covers all aspects of prevention and control for primary care, secondary care, occupational health care, out patient, dental surgeries, home visits, ambulances, emergency departments and acute assessment units. This guidance is available at the following links:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/872745/Infection_prevention_and_control_guidance_for_pandemic_coronavirus.pdfThe Government has also published guidance to employers to ensure correct procedures are followed which can be found at the following links:www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/guidance-for-employers-and-businesses-on-covid-19#handling-post-packages-or-food-from-affected-areas

Coronavirus: China

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the most recent (a) official and (b) modelled prevalence rate of covid-19 is in (i) Hubei province and (ii) mainland China.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 16 March 2020



The latest cumulative number of cases, as published by the Chinese Health Commission at 24:00 on 11 March 2020 is 80,793 cases in mainland China and 67,781 cases in Hubei province. This data is published here at the following link:http://www.nhc.gov.cn/xcs/yqtb/202003/37c1536b6655473f8c2120ebdc475731.shtmlThe Chinese Health Commission does not publish prevalence rates.Public Health England stopped modelling China on 12 February 2020. This corresponded with multiple changes to how China counted cases. No figures are held.

Hospital Beds: Intensive Care

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital intensive care beds there were as at 11 March 2020; what estimate he has made of how many additional hospital intensive care beds could be created and normally staffed within one month of 11 March 2020; and what estimate he has made of the number of patients diagnosed with covid-19 who will require intensive care at the peak of the outbreak under (a) best case, (b) anticipated case and (c) worst case scenarios modelled by the Government.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Tower Hamlets

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Mayor of Tower Hamlets on minimising the risk of further infection from covid-19 in that borough among (a) people over 60 years old, (b) people with (i) cardiovascular disease, (ii) diabetes, (iii) respiratory disease and (iv) cancer and (c) other high-risk groups.

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Chief Executive of Tower Hamlets Council on minimising the risk of further infection from covid-19 in that borough among (a) people over 60 years old, (b) people with (i) cardiovascular disease, (ii) diabetes, (iii) respiratory disease and (iv) cancer and (c) other high-risk groups.

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Director of Public Health for Tower Hamlets on minimising the risk of further infection from covid-19 in that borough among (a) people over 60 years old, (b) people with (i) cardiovascular disease, (ii) diabetes, (iii) respiratory disease and (iv) cancer and (c) other high-risk groups.

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Tower Hamlets Health and Wellbeing Board on minimising the risk of further infection from covid-19 in that borough among (a) people over 60 years old, (b) people with (i) cardiovascular disease, (ii) diabetes, (iii) respiratory disease and (iv) cancer and (c) other high-risk groups.

Jo Churchill: The Government is responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic as a national concern and has not therefore been providing any localised information.The Department is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, local authorities and providers to make sure that all sectors across all communities are prepared to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading.

Westmorland Hospital: Finance

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to allocate funding for the improvement of services at Westmorland General Hospital.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what improvements are planned at Westmorland General Hospital over the next 10 years, by department.

Edward Argar: In October 2019, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust was awarded £34 million funding to improve buildings and infrastructure. This includes at Westmorland General Hospital, where the volume of day surgery work will be increasing. Two new surgical operating theatres are being built, as well as a refurbishment of the existing operating theatres. In addition the Helme Chase maternity unit will also undergo modernisation this year. Plans are still being developed but are likely to include relocating some clinical activity conveniently close to the main hospital entrance, and relocating some internal administrative departments and patient record areas within the hospital. Neither of these will affect the service offered to patients.In 2019, the Government launched a new Health Infrastructure Plan which includes £100 million to support 21 major projects (covering 34 hospitals) develop their schemes to be delivered in a second phase of major hospital rebuilds (HIP2), as part of our plan to build 40 new hospitals over the next 10 years. This includes £5 million for University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust. This business case development will include review of service delivery and opportunities for improvements in infrastructure across the Morecambe Bay, including Westmorland General Hospital.Future National Health Service capital funding will be provided for as part of the Department’s multi-year settlement at the next capital review.

Hospitals: Childbirth

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many births were recorded at (a) Westmorland General Hospital, (b) Lancaster Royal Infirmary and (c) Furness General Hospital in each of the last 10 years.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The following tables show counts of finished delivery episodes for Westmorland General Hospital, Lancaster Royal Infirmary and Furness General Hospital site of treatment, for the years 2009-10 to 2018-19.Site of treatment2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-14RTXBWWestmorland General Hospital355380335265220RTX02Royal Lancaster Infirmary1,9452,0202,0652,0301,945RTXBUFurness General Hospital1,0901,0901,1351,0601,035 Site of treatment2014-152015-162016-172017-182018-19RTXBWWestmorland General Hospital185115957580RTX02Royal Lancaster Infirmary1,9501,9501,9001,8301,825RTXBUFurness General Hospital9701,0551,0709701,125Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital

Westmorland Hospital: Standards

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what departments at Westmorland General Hospital have had service improvements in each of the last 10 years; and what those improvements were.

Edward Argar: Westmorland General Hospital has seen many changes to improve patient care and experience over the last 10 years including:- The refurbishment and expansion of the Cardiac Lab;- A new DEXA (Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry) scanner facility;- The development of a Breast Screening Unit;- The refurbishment of one of the Theatres;- Improvements to the layout of the Urgent Treatment Centre;- The opening of a new Oncology day unit;- The development of the Endoscopy Unit to make it JAG (Joint Advisory Group) accredited;- A new café in the entrance of the hospital;- New LED lighting throughout the hospital;- Improvements to radiology rooms and reception;- A new water purification system for the Renal Unit;- A new unit for muscular skeletal therapy; and- A new unit for macular care.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional resources are to be made available to minimise the risk of infection from covid-19 among (a) homeless people, (b) prisoners, (c) prison staff and (d) people with drug or alcohol problems.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Care Homes: Costs

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the level of the difference in the cost of care home places between people (a) who are self-funded and (b) funded by local authorities since the publication of the Competition and Markets Authority report into the Care Home market in November 2017.

Helen Whately: The Government does not collect this information centrally and as such no assessment has been made.

Coronavirus: Intensive Care

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to co-ordinate the conversion of hospital facilities into specialist areas to treat large numbers of patients needing intensive care as a result of covid-19, in advance of the infection rate peak.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Intensive Care

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to construct temporary intensive care facilities prior to the peak of the covid-19 infection to treat people as a result of that infection.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Medical Equipment

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the current NHS (a) stock and (b) supply chain for medical devices required to treat patients with severe covid-19 infection symptoms.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his department has made of the adequacy of current NHS (a) stock and (b) supply chain for personal protective equipment required to treat patients with covid-19.

Jo Churchill: The Department has well-established procedures to deal with supply problems affecting all medical products and supplies, including medicines, medical devices and personal protective equipment regardless of the cause, and work closely with industry, the National Health Service and others in the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised. A product supply response group has been set up to manage supply of products and to support any response to shortages required for the COVID-19 outbreak. The group is also considering the potential mid to long-term impacts of the outbreak globally. The Department is communicating with all stakeholders, including Royal Colleges, charities, patient groups, the NHS, the adult social care sector, and the devolved nations, and will continue to keep these stakeholders updated as the situation progresses.Personal protective equipment has been issued to general practices since 9 March the packs include facemasks, aprons and gloves.

Hormone Replacement Therapy: Ellesmere Port and Neston

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that women in Ellesmere Port and Neston have adequate access to Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of supply of Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Jo Churchill: We are aware of ongoing supply issues with some hormone replacement therapy (HRT) preparations for a variety of reasons.The National Health Service receives regular updates on the supply situation and availability of HRT products, and we are continuing to engage with organisations such as the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare and the British Menopausal Society.We have been working closely with all suppliers to resolve the issues as quickly as possible and maintain overall supply to patients across the United Kingdom, including those living in Ellesmere Port and Neston. Although some HRT products are still affected by supply issues, alternatives remain available, and the overall supply situation has been improving since February 2020 and will continue to improve over the coming months.

Cancer: Mental Health Services

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2020 to Question 20639 on Cancer: Mental Health Services, which cancer alliances have committed to improving access to psychological care for cancer patients as part of the Cancer Alliance Planning Guidance 2019-20.

Jo Churchill: NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked all Cancer Alliances to help more patients and families manage the impact of cancer and its treatment on psychological and physical health over the next five years. It is the responsibility of individual Cancer Alliances to publish their plans on their websites.

NHS

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the NHS People Plan.

Helen Whately: The National Health Service published the interim NHS People Plan on 3 June 2019. It sets out the long-term vision and immediate actions to meet the challenges of supply, reform, culture and leadership.The final NHS People Plan will be published shortly and will set out a clear framework for collective action on workforce priorities, with a focus on growing and retaining a well-skilled workforce across the whole NHS.

NHS: Oxygen

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the reserves of oxygen used to treat patient’s in respiratory distress at healthcare providers in England.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of hospitals' (a) infrastructure and (b) plans to provide a consistent supply of oxygen at suitable pressures and quantities during periods of high patient demand.

Edward Argar: The Department has well-established procedures to deal with supply problems affecting all medical products and supplies and work closely with industry, the National Health Service and others in the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised. A product supply response group has been set up to manage supply of products and to support any response to shortages required for the COVID-19 outbreak. The group is also considering the potential mid to long-term impacts of the outbreak globally. NHS England and NHS Improvement are conducting detailed assessments of current capability and capacity with regard to ventilation devices and capacity to deliver oxygen to patients. In addition, the Department is in dialogue with current and potential oxygen suppliers to ensure that supply/stored levels at hospital sites are increased, that the manufacture of oxygen is increased and that appropriate contingency plans are in place to maintain the oxygen supply chain.

Department for International Development

Gaza: Non-governmental Organisations

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 29 April 2019 to Question 247112 on Gaza: Non-governmental Organisations, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Government’s support of the UN Access Coordination Unit in helping that organisation to achieve its objective of facilitating humanitarian access for UN and NGO workers to and from Gaza.

James Cleverly: The UK supports the UN’s Access Coordination Unit (ACU), which works to ensure humanitarian access to Gaza for UN and NGO workers by intervening when Israeli travel permits are delayed. We assess that the ACU has been instrumental in facilitating such access, with more than 1500 humanitarian personnel receiving assistance between April 2019 and September 2019.

Tuberculosis: Overseas Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much Official Development Assistance her Department allocated to tackling tuberculosis in 2018-19.

Wendy Morton: DFID invests in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria as the principal mechanism to combat TB. The UK is currently the second largest investor in the Global Fund, pledging £1.4 billion to the 6th Replenishment (2020 – 2022) and £1.2 billion for the 5th Replenishment (2017-2019).As our investment in the Global Fund has increased our bilateral programmes have decreased. Bilateral spending on TB control in 2018, which we publish by calendar year, was £1,862,966.We also fund research on TB, including to develop more effective diagnostics and treatment, programmes to support countries to strengthen their health systems. Additionally, we significantly invest into health multilaterals such as the World Health Organisation and Unitaid, which provide technical leadership on tackling TB and strengthening health systems, support the introduction of new drugs for drug-resistant TB and the development of paediatric TB medicines for children in some of the world’s poorest countries.Data on UK aid expenditure is published each year and can be accessed from the link below:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2018

Refugees: Overseas Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much Official Development Assistance her Department has allocated to supporting refugees and displaced persons in each of the last five years.

James Cleverly: The UK is strongly committed to supporting refugees and other displaced people and remains at the forefront of refugee responses around the world. To date, we have provided over £3.1 billion in response to the Syrian conflict, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis, and since August 2017 £256 million for the Rohingya crisis. That has included immediate, life-saving aid such as food, shelter and clean water, as well as longer-term support such as jobs, livelihoods and access to education and health care.We are one of largest donors to the UN’s Refugee agency and have helped develop and champion the Global Compact on Refugees, which supports long-term and holistic approaches to assistance and protection.The UK is one of the biggest humanitarian donors world-wide and between April 2015 and March 2019, we reached 32.4 million people with humanitarian assistance (food aid, cash and voucher transfers). Between 2014 and 2018, DFID provided over £6 billion of bilateral humanitarian funding to people in need, including refugees and displaced people.

Polio: Overseas Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much Official Development Assistance her Department allocated to programmes tackling Polio in 2018-19.

Wendy Morton: The UK is a long standing supporter of efforts to eradicate polio, providing consistent support to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) since 1995. We are the second largest state donor to this programme and have provided a total of £1.3 billion to date. In September 2019 Ministers also approved a new £400 million investment for the 2020 – 2023 period, bringing our total investment to £1.7 billion.Transmission of wild poliovirus is now only present in two countries compared to 124 when GPEI was formed in 1988, and cases of paralysis have reduced in that time from 350,000 a year to 175 last year.In the 2018-2019 period, the UK provided a total of £50 million to programmes to specifically tackle polio; £4 million to Gavi the Vaccine Alliance for the purchase of polio vaccines, and £46 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which contributed to the vaccination of over 400 million children.The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is a public-private partnership with six core partners, including the World Health Organisation and Rotary International. The UK works closely with these partners to eradicate polio from these last few parts of the world.

Humanitarian Aid: Children

Ben Everitt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to protect vulnerable girls and boys from (a) violence and (b) child marriage in humanitarian emergency situations.

Wendy Morton: DFID is providing significant support to protect children from violence around the world in humanitarian crises. Our programmes assist children and reduce their risks of violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect.In August 2019 at the G7 Summit, the UK Prime Minister announced £90 million of new UK support for education in emergencies and crises across the world. This will support 600,000 children living in conflict areas and areas of protracted crises. Girls are 2.5 times more likely to be out of school in emergencies and are more susceptible to child marriage and other forms of abuse and exploitation. This investment is a key part of the PM’s plan to ensure more girls benefit from 12 years of quality education. This funding will provide safe spaces for girls and psycho-social support to those who have experienced violence and trauma.The UK’s Humanitarian Reform Policy puts the protection of vulnerable populations, including children, at the centre of the UK’s humanitarian work. DFID’s core funding to UN agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement helps them to fulfil their unique roles within the humanitarian sector, including promoting compliance of International Humanitarian Law and protecting children against violence.Tackling child marriage, including in emergencies, is a key priority for the UK. Through DFID’s flagship global programme, Accelerating Action to End Child Marriage, the UK has supported nearly 3 million girls to attend school, skills training and girls’ clubs in 2018 alone, helping to prevent and respond to child marriage in countries with a high prevalence.

Overseas Aid: Public Consultation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Integrated Review of foreign policy, defence, security and international development, announced by the Prime Minister on 26 February 2020, whether her Department plans to consult (a) civil society and (b) the communities that Official Development Assistance is designed to support as part of that review.

Wendy Morton: The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy is the deepest review of its kind since the end of the Cold War. We will utilise expertise from both inside and outside government for the review, ensuring the best minds feed into its conclusions and challenge traditional Whitehall assumptions and thinking as needed.

Developing Countries: Debts Written Off

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the £150 million of Official Development Assistance to the International Monetary Fund’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust is an additional contribution above the annual 0.7 percent of Gross National Income.

Wendy Morton: Funding will be allocated from the UK ODA Crisis Reserve which is built into our annual 0.7% budget allocation. The UK ODA Crisis Reserve was established as part of the UK Aid Strategy in 2015, to respond to unforeseen urgent priorities.

Egypt: Overseas Aid

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Egypt Country Programme in achieving its objectives for civil society.

James Cleverly: The Department for International Development does not have a Country Programme in Egypt.

Egypt: Corruption

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK Action Against Corruption Programme in Egypt.

James Cleverly: The National Crime Agency, which delivers the UK Action Against Corruption Programme (UK ACT), makes independent decisions about which cases to work on. We are not aware that the programme has a significant case load in Egypt, although the programme did fund the Egypt Asset Recovery Task Force between 2013 and 2016.DFID commissioned and published, in October 2019, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the programme, available at https://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-201021/documents. This does not assess the effectiveness of the programme in Egypt.The evaluation concluded: “Overall evaluation evidence shows that the UK ACT Programme has made a contribution to reducing, to some extent, the incentives of corrupt individuals from developing countries to use the UK to launder money and reducing the incentives of UK companies and nationals to engage in bribery in developing countries”.Since DFID starting funding the National Crime Agency and its predecessors in 2006, the programme has frozen, confiscated or returned almost £800 million of assets stolen from developing countries. DFID also publishes annual reviews of the progress of the programme, also available on DevTracker.

Department for Education

Mathematics: Primary Education

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using the grid multiplication method in maths teaching at key stage 2; and whether he plans to publish revised guidance to encourage that method in the curriculum.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 16 March 2020



The mathematics national curriculum was reformed in 2014. It was developed by the Department with advice from subject experts, to ensure that it provided the knowledge to progress in education and employment.The national curriculum requires pupils in state-maintained schools to be taught a formal written method of multiplication and ‘Mathematics Appendix 1’ provides a set of examples for this.There are no current plans to published revised guidance on this matter.

Apprentices: Degrees

Ben Everitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of degree starts were degree apprenticeships in each of the last three years.

Gillian Keegan: The number of degree entrants in English higher education (HE) providers in the last 3 academic years are shown in the table below: 2016/172017/182018/19First year: first degree entrants458,545463,975475,915First year: postgraduate-taught entrants259,440267,305278,310 Level 6 and 7 apprenticeships starts for England, along with figures for those where there is a mandatory degree component required, are shown in the following table: 2016/172017/182018/19Level 6 apprenticeship starts1,6506,37010,820Of which level 6 with a mandatory degree component1,6105,7809,660Level 7 apprenticeship starts504,50011,660Of which level 7 with a mandatory degree component205903,930 The table below provides an 'indicative' percentage of level 6 apprenticeships with mandatory degrees as a ratio of all HE entrants for first degrees.The indicative percentage is based on the data in the above tables that are drawn from 2 different sources having different coverage. The percentages are therefore indicative rather than precise and are comparing domiciled workers doing apprenticeships with a degree component versus all domiciled and non-domiciled HE entrants doing their first degree in England only.  2016/172017/182018/19Level 6 apprenticeship with mandatory0.4%1.2%2.0%degree as a ratio of first degree HE entrants   Notes:1) The data sources are the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) for apprenticeship starts and Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) for degree entrants.2) The HESA figures include all students entering English higher education institutions for academic year August to July each year.3) Overall degree entrants exclude a minority of entrants who started degrees in further education and alternative providers.4) Apprenticeship starts are counted for the full, final academic year August to July each year and include all funded and unfunded learners recorded on the ILR.5) Apprenticeship volumes are rounded to the nearest ten starts.6) Not all level 6 and level 7 apprenticeships have a mandatory degree element. Mandatory degrees can be included in apprenticeships at either level 6 or level 7.7) Where a level 6 or 7 apprenticeship does not contain a mandatory degree element, an employer or training provider can choose to use a degree or other qualification voluntarily as part of an apprenticeship standard. This would not attract additional funding. These apprenticeships are therefore not recorded as an apprenticeship start that includes a degree component.

Apprentices

Ben Everitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many level 7 apprenticeship starts there were in England in the last 12 months; and what proportion of all apprenticeship starts were at level 7 over that period.

Gillian Keegan: Between January 2019 to December 2019, there have been 13,796 level 7 apprenticeship starts reported to date in England, which was 3.7% of all starts in this period.The attached table shows the number of level 7 starts, the number of all apprenticeship starts, and the proportion of level 7 starts per month. This is the latest monthly data available.The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) is responsible for working with employer trailblazer groups to design and approve apprenticeships standards. This includes deciding which qualifications may be included in apprenticeship standards and whether those qualifications should be funded by government as part of the apprenticeship.To ensure that high-quality apprenticeships are available to learners, the IfATE reviews standards on an ongoing basis. It is currently reviewing the level 7 Senior Leader standard, which may include a MBA qualification, to ensure that it meets the current policy intent and provides value for money. 



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Education: Music

Paul Bristow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to allocate addition and (a) funding and (b) resources to the provision of music teaching in schools in (i) England and (ii) in Peterborough constituency.

Nick Gibb: The Department believes that music is an important subject and that all pupils should receive a high-quality music education. The subject is compulsory in the national curriculum up to age 14.To support schools to deliver high quality music education for all their pupils, the Government has provided funding of over £300 million for music education hubs across England between 2016 and 2020, including £76 million in 2019-20, and further funding to support hubs with the additional costs under the teachers’ pension scheme. This is a significant increase over the £58 million we gave hubs in 2014.The Government recently announced a further year’s funding for music hubs, to help thousands more children learn to play musical instruments, as well as continued support for a range of smaller music and arts programmes, totalling £85 million. We will also be offering an ‘arts premium’ of £90 million each year for secondary schools in England from 2021 to fund enriching activities for all pupils.Peterborough is served by the Peterborough Music Education Hub. In 2020-21, we will be providing the hub with over £360,000 of funding to continue to support the city’s schools to deliver high-quality music education. In 2016-17, the last year data for which data is available, the hub provided individual lessons to over 2,500 pupils, small group lessons for over 1,000 pupils and whole class ensemble teaching to over 3,300 pupils. The hub also supported or delivered 215 ensembles. The Government trusts that with this announced funding, this important work will continue, both in Peterborough and across England.

STEM Subjects

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to (a) encourage the study of STEM subjects and (b) promote jobs in the energy sector in schools.

Nick Gibb: The demand for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills is growing, particularly for sectors such as engineering, construction and manufacturing. To support this, the Government has made substantial spending commitments for mathematics, digital and technical education. The Government is also encouraging more students into STEM, from primary school to higher education.Mathematics, science and computing are compulsory subjects in all state-maintained schools, which pupils will study at least until age 16. State-maintained schools must teach the national curriculum programmes of study for these subjects in full, which ensures that all pupils gain a thorough and rigorous grounding in each discipline. Academies and free schools are also required to teach mathematics and science as part of a broad and balanced curriculum, using the national curriculum as an exemplar.At GCSE, the majority of pupils enter mathematics and science, and entries to computer science continue to rise. Entries to STEM A-levels are also rising, with a 26% increase between 2010 and 2019. The Government is funding programmes to increase the take-up of mathematics (such as the Advanced Maths Premium), computing and physics, and to support better teaching of mathematics, science and computing in schools. This includes a new £84 million programme to improve computing teaching. This also includes focused action to address existing gender imbalances in STEM, which are more pronounced in subjects such as physics, computing and mathematics.The Government has committed to improving STEM careers advice in schools in the Department’s careers strategy, including for sectors such as energy. The Department is also raising awareness of the range of careers that STEM qualifications offer, through programmes such as STEM ambassadors.

Apprentices: Engineering

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of people undertaking energy engineering apprenticeships were women in the latest period for which figures are available.

Gillian Keegan: In 2018/19, there were 59,970 apprenticeship starts in the Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies sector subject area, of which 7.9% were female.In the first quarter of the 2019/20 academic year (covering August to October 2019), there have been 24,440 starts reported to date, of which 7.8% were female.There is no single apprenticeship called ‘energy engineering’, however there are a number of engineering-related apprenticeships that may relate to the ‘energy’ sector, a number of which are shown in the attached table.



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Special Educational Needs

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the review into support for children with special educational needs will be (a) concluded and (b) published.

Vicky Ford: This review is ongoing. In announcing that we are reviewing the system of support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, we acknowledged the challenges that the system faces. We are committed to setting out plans to tackle these challenges.Our reforms in 2014 gave vital support to more children but we know that there have been problems in delivering the changes that we all want to see. It is right that we take the time to consider how we can ensure that there is consistent and joined-up support in different local areas across health, care and education services and that high-quality health and education support is available across the country.

Free School Meals

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2020 to Question 2542, what support is available to parents of children eligible for free school meals who have medical dietary requirements that the school cannot guarantee to meet.

Vicky Ford: Schools are expected to make reasonable efforts to cater for pupils with particular requirements, including to reflect medical, dietary and cultural needs. In exceptional circumstances, it may be considered reasonable for the school not to make special provision for particular children – for example, where this would be very difficult and costly to achieve. In the rare event that schools are unable to accommodate the dietary requirements of a student, schools are not required to provide additional support.Guidance for schools is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools with additional supporting information on allergies at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools/allergy-guidance-for-schools.

Music: Education

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to Answer of 24 January 2020 to 7627, what plans he has to ring-fence funding in the National Plan for Music Education to provide support for talented young musicians from low-income families.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2020 Question 7627, what plans he has to increase funding for the In Harmony music programme.

Nick Gibb: The Government recognises that music is an important subject and that all pupils should receive a high-quality music education. The subject is compulsory in the national curriculum up to age 14.To support schools to deliver high quality music education for all their pupils, the Government has provided funding of over £300 million for music education hubs across England between 2016 and 2020. We have already announced funding of £85 million for music and arts education in 2020-21. This includes a further year of the music education hub programme, to help thousands more children learn to play musical instruments, and further funding for initiatives, including In Harmony, that support pupils from a range of backgrounds to learn about different styles of music.The Government has confirmed that an arts premium will be provided to secondary schools to fund enriching activities for all pupils. Work is underway to develop the arts premium and we will be making further statements on this in due course.The Department recently held a Call for Evidence on music education to inform our refresh of the National Plan for Music Education. We will be undertaking further work on this ahead of publication of the Plan in the autumn.Funding beyond 2021 will be subject to the 2020 Spending Review.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department plans to allocate to the provision of flexible childcare services (a) in term time and (b) during school holidays in each of the next five years.

Vicky Ford: We want to give parents the freedom, support and choice to look after their children in the way that works best for them. As set out in the government’s manifesto, we will invest up to £1 billion over three years to create more high-quality wraparound and holiday childcare places from 2021. Further details on this significant new investment will be announced in due course.

Ministry of Justice

Post Offices: Convictions

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure the Criminal Case Review Commission is adequately resourced to process quickly the cases of former subpostmasters convicted due to errors in the Horizon IT system.

Alex Chalk: The Government believes that the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is sufficiently funded for the valuable work that it undertakes including the work to complete its reviews into the Post Office Horizon cases, with the necessary speed and thoroughness. For the 57 Post Office Horizon cases it is reviewing, the CCRC is currently preparing for a Case Decision Committee meeting, involving three Commissioners, on 24th March 2020.

Crime: Victims

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Queen's Speech December 2019 Background Briefing Notes, what his timescale is for (a) publishing and (b) introducing a revised victims' code; and whether that revised code will include a children's victims' code.

Alex Chalk: Our consultation ‘Improving the Victims’ Code’ is due to close on 16 April 2020. We will publish a finalised version of the revised Victims’ Code as part of the response to this consultation as soon as possible and introduce it later this year.As outlined in our first consultation on the Victims’ Code held in 2019, ‘Proposals for revising the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime’, we are fully committed to publishing child/young person friendly guidance alongside the revised Victims’ Code.

Television: Licensing

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people aged 75 or over have been prosecuted for failure to hold a TV licence in each year since 2015.

Chris Philp: The Ministry of Justice has published the number of prosecutions, convictions and sentencing outcomes for the non-payment of television license fees up to December 2018. The number of prosecutions of individuals aged 75 or over can be found in the accompanying table.



Table
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Prison Officers: Resignations

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 10 March 2020 to Question 24398, Prison Officers: Resignations, what the resignation rate for all operational prison officers was at each prison in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: The table in the attached document provides the nationally compiled resignation statistics for staff at Band 3, 4 and 5 since 2015.Resignation rates by prison by individual grade is not published.We have recruited a huge number of prison officers with some 4,200 more on the landings than three years ago. Annual fluctuations are expected, but we work hard to retain our staff – giving them the biggest pay rise in a decade, additional training, tools like PAVA and body-worn cameras to make their jobs safer.



Table
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Family Conciliation Services

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2020 to Question 19946, what plans he has to increase legal aid pay rates for family mediation services.

Alex Chalk: Legal aid remains available for mediation in certain family disputes, where the parties meet the eligibility criteria. The latest published Legal Aid Statistics show that in family mediation, Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAMs) assessments increased by 20% in the last quarter compared to the same quarter in the previous year. In the Legal Support Action Plan, we committed to launching a campaign to raise awareness of the full breadth of legal support available, including legal aid.

Judges: Accountability

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve the accountability of judges.

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how the competence of judges is evaluated.

Chris Philp: Judges must be free to make their judicial decisions without being subject to interference by Parliament or the executive. Judicial independence is fundamental to the rule of law and the effective operation of our democracy. To protect the rule of law, the main form of accountability is through right of appeal to a higher court. The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office support the Lord Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor in their responsibility for considering and determining complaints about the personal conduct of all judges in England and Wales.I am fully confident in the competence of our judiciary. Judges are selected following a transparent, rigorous, independent, merit based process which is key to maintaining the quality, integrity and independence of our world class judiciary. The Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals require judges to attend induction training before sitting and thereafter attend continuation training. There are a range of appraisal schemes across the courts and tribunals judiciary.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Quintessentially

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to paragraph 9.1 of the Crown Commercial Service's document, Publication of Central Government Tenders and Contracts, for what reasons her Department's contract with Quintessentially (UK) Limited was not published on Contracts Finder until April 2019 when that contract began in May 2016.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department plans to renew its contract with Quintessentially (UK) Limited after that contract expires in May 2020.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the tendering process for the contract held with her Department by Quintessentially (UK) Limited was competitive and open to rival bids.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether it is standard practice for her Department to include in its contracts with suppliers a key performance indicator that specifies that the contractor does not offer services that are not in line with government offering and reputational agreement.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department holds any other contracts with Quintessentially (UK) Limited in addition to the contract for the Great Investors Programme.

Graham Stuart: The contract was procured prior to the formation of the Department for International Trade (DIT) by UK Shared Business Services who at the time managed UK Trade and Investment’s (UKTI) procurement activity. DIT took ownership of UKTI’s contracts on formation. UK Shared Business Services is a shared services provider and is jointly owned by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and UK Research and Innovation. UK Shared Business Services was responsible for adding the contract to Contracts Finder before responsibility for the contract was transferred to DIT. After DIT staff noticed the contract was not on Contracts Finder, in early 2019, the contract was added.The Department are currently running a competitive procurement for a partner for inward investment services. This will replace the current contract with Quintessentially when it expires in May 2020. A notice was published on Contracts Finder and the Official Journal of the EU in January 2020 to inform the market of this opportunity.Quintessentially won a competitive tender in 2016 which was carried out by UK Shared Business Service who at the time managed UKTI’s procurement activity.Key performance indicators are designed to reflect the service required and are determined on a case-by-case basis.DIT does not hold any other contracts with Quintessentially (UK) Limited in addition to the contract for the GREAT Investors Programme.

Israel: Overseas Trade

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps the Government has taken to support bilateral trade with Israel.

Conor Burns: Her Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to promoting the UK’s trade and business ties with Israel, a vital element of the flourishing partnership between the two countries. In 2019, the total value of trade between the UK and Israel was £4.7 billion, an increase of 8.3% since 2018, and we want to promote even greater bilateral trade.The UK and Israel signed the Trade Continuity and Partnership Agreement in February 2019, which keeps trade open following the UK’s exit from the EU. During a call between the Prime Minister and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on 6 February 2020, the two leaders agreed to continue to strengthen our bilateral relationship following the UK’s departure from the EU, including in areas such as trade.To that end Department for International Trade officials are working with their Israeli counterparts to explore options to host a future UK-Israel Trade and Investment conference in London to identify new opportunities for trade and collaboration, especially around the financial services and technology sectors.

Generalised System of Preferences

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she plans to maintain UK membership of the EU GSP+ Trade Scheme; and if she will make a statement.

Conor Burns: After the Transition Period, the UK will have a trade preference scheme which at least maintains the preferential market access we currently offer to developing countries.We intend that the scheme will have three tiers:• The General Framework for low and lower-middle income countries that receive the EU’s standard Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP)• The Enhanced Framework for vulnerable low and lower-middle income countries that are part of the EU’s GSP+. • The Least Developed Country Framework for least developed countries which currently benefit from the EU’s Everything But Arms.

Import Duties

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans she has to bring forward legislative proposals to amend Section 15 of the Taxation (Cross Border Trade) Act 2018.

Conor Burns: Budget announced that the government will legislate to amend section 15 of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 via the Finance Bill.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman: Complaints

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of complaints to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman were upheld in 2019.

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many complaints to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman were upheld in 2019.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman publishes on their website an annual review of local government complaints. The latest report available is for financial year 2018 to 2019. It reveals that 4,232 detailed investigations were carried out in 2018 to 2019 and 58 per cent of those complaints were upheld.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to meet representatives of third sector organisations to discuss the Shared Prosperity Fund.

Mr Simon Clarke: The 2019 Conservative Manifesto committed to creating a UK Shared Prosperity Fund which binds together the whole of the United Kingdom, tackling inequality and deprivation in each of our four nations. The Government recognises the importance of reassuring local areas on the future of local growth funding and of providing clarity on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.   Government officials have been working closely with interested parties and will continue to do so as we develop the Fund. To date, officials have held 26 engagement events in total, including 25 across the UK and one in Gibraltar. These were attended by over five hundred representatives from a breadth of sectors and were designed to aid the development of the Fund.

Homelessness: Death

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of homeless deaths in (a) Chester, (b) England and (c) the UK in each year since 2010.

Luke Hall: Every premature death of someone homeless is one too many and we take this matter extremely seriously. It should not happen that people die prematurely and on the street because they are homeless.     We are absolutely committed to ending rough sleeping by the end of this parliament. To achieve this, we are providing £492 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in 2020/2021.This marks a £124 million increase in funding from the previous year.   In December 2018, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) began to produce data on deaths of homeless people in England and Wales. The first release showed homelessness deaths in England and Wales from 2013-2017. Deaths of homeless people were identified from the death registration records held by the ONS, and a statistical method called capture-recapture modelling was applied to estimate the most likely number of additional registrations not identified as homeless people.The ONS now publishes official estimates of the number of deaths of homeless people in England and Wales annually. However, the statistics are still classed as experimental. The latest release was October 2019.

Leasehold

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that permission fees and service charges are clearly explained to prospective leaseholders.

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure the clear explanation of ground rent fees to prospective leaseholders.

Luke Hall: The Government is clear that prospective home buyers should have access to clear and accurate information on potential fees and charges. Individuals selling a leasehold property provide a ‘Leasehold Information Pack’ about their property to prospective purchasers and this contains information relating to the property, including on ground rents and service charges.The Government has committed to introducing legislation to stop freeholders and managing agents from taking as long as they like and charging what they like for this information by ensuring these packs are provided to a fixed cost and timetable.

Building Regulations and Fire Safety Independent Review

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the May 2019 Building a Safer Future: Independent Review of Fire Safety: Final Report, Cm9607, whether the proposed Dutyholders will be the same as provided for in the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the May 2019 Building a Safer Future: Independent Review of Fire Safety: Final Report, Cm9607, whether he plans to extend the requirement that buildings in use have a safety case to (a) residential facilities out of scope of the Independent Review, (b) office premises, (c) sports stadia, (d) transport hubs and (e) other public settings and events.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the Government’s response to the feedback received on the 6 June 2019 consultation entitled Building a safer future: proposals for reform of the building safety regulatory system.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the May 2019 Building a Safer Future: Independent Review of Fire Safety: Final Report, Cm 9607, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of Dutyholders having to ensure that building safety risk is reduced so far as is reasonably practicable compared with as low as reasonably practicable.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the May 2019 Building a Safer Future: Independent Review of Fire Safety: Final Report. Cm9607, whether he plans to consult on the proposal to reduce building safety risk so far as is reasonably practical.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the May 2019 Building a Safer Future: Independent Review of Fire Safety: Final Report, Cm9607, what his timescale is for the full implementation of the proposals in that report.

Christopher Pincher: The Government has been considering the feedback received from its ‘Building a Safer Future’ consultation carefully, working with other government departments, its delivery partners and stakeholders in the building safety sector to ensure that the reforms brought forward are comprehensive and deliver real change.   We will be shortly publishing our response to this consultation, setting out details of the new regulatory regime, to be legislated for in the Building Safety Bill, that will ensure residents are, and feel, safe in their homes.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities take the necessary steps to prepare for potential covid-19 outbreaks in their areas.

Christopher Pincher: I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 27018 on 12 March 2020.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the Friends Families and Travellers 2020 report entitled No place to stop: Research on the five year supply of deliverable Gypsy and Traveller sites in the South East of England.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the roundtable report entitled Challenging and improving planning policy for Gypsies and Travellers from the all-party parliamentary group on Gypsies Travellers and Roma.

Luke Hall: Planning Policy for Traveller Sites is clear that Local Planning Authorities should set pitch targets for gypsies and travellers and plot targets for travelling showpeople which address the likely permanent and transit site accommodation needs of travellers in their area, working collaboratively with neighbouring local planning authorities. They should identify and update annually, a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide 5 years’ worth of sites against their locally set targets.Through a Written Ministerial Statement on 6 February 2019 (HCWS1305), local authorities were reminded of their duties to assess the need for transit and permanent sites.We have committed to a number of measures to support site provision including to finalise the 2016 draft guidance on assessing housing need including for those residing in caravans; and to consider making information on permanent and transit sites in plans freely available in open data format so that there is a single, clear source of data available. We will also consider writing to those authorities who do not have an up-to-date plan for travellers in place.

Local Government: Coronavirus

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether additional expenditure incurred by local authorities in dealing with the covid-19 outbreak is eligible expenditure under the Bellwin scheme.

Christopher Pincher: The Bellwin Scheme has not been activated in respect of the Covid-19 outbreak but in the Budget, the Chancellor set out a £12 billion package of temporary, timely and targeted measures to support public services, individuals and businesses through the economic disruption caused by Covid-19.   The Government recognises that local authorities will need extra funding - particularly, but not just - for social care and we are urgently working out a funding package.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of whether the decision in Budget 2020 to increase funding for cladding remediation is compliant with the public accounting rules as set out in Managing Public Money.

Christopher Pincher: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, who was the Accounting Officer for his Department when the decision to include an additional £1 billion for removal of unsafe cladding for residential buildings above 18 metres in the Budget 2020, as set out in paragraph 1.185 of the Budget 2020 Redbook, was approved by his Department.

Christopher Pincher: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Affordable Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether homes funded under the new affordable homes programme from 2021-22 will be required to include a right to shared ownership.

Christopher Pincher: Right to Shared Ownership will give many social housing tenants the opportunity to purchase a stake in their home and take their first step into home ownership.At Budget we announced £12.2 billion of investment to build affordable homes, which is the biggest cash investment in affordable housing for a decade.As a condition of this funding, homes built with it must have the Right to Shared Ownership attached.

Housing: Construction

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local authorities bordering the Solent where housebuilding is constrained by international obligations on nitrates; and if he will make a statement.

Christopher Pincher: The Secretary of State has met with representatives of local authorities affected by the nitrates issue in the South Hampshire area. The Government understands the importance of this issue and the very real effects it is having on house building and the local economy.   Officials across MHCLG, Defra and its agencies are working together and liaising with the affected authorities and house builders to identify and implement measures to address the problem. The underlying issues cannot be solved through the planning system, but instead require action on agricultural pollution and wastewater treatment to help tackle the problem of nitrates pollution at source and enable more development to proceed.

Shorthold Tenancies: Pets

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, if officials from his Department will meet with (a) Cats Protection, (b) the Dogs Trust and (c) other animal welfare charities to discuss his Department’s proposed changes to the pet’s clauses within the Government’s model shorthold assured tenancy contract.

Luke Hall: We will shortly publish a revised version of the national Model Tenancy Agreement, the Government’s recommended contract for assured shorthold tenancies in the private rented sector. This is intended to make it easier for tenants with pets to find private landlords who will accept them.We have invited representatives of Dogs Trust and Cats Protection to meet with officials where we hope to collect views and solutions from various stakeholders in order to inform Government policy on pets in the private rented sector.

Mayors: West Yorkshire

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what powers the proposed Mayor of West Yorkshire will have.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Government announced at the Budget on 11 March that agreement had been reached on an ambitious devolution deal with West Yorkshire.   The full text of the deal, setting out the powers the West Yorkshire Mayor and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will have, as well as the funding streams to be provided, including over £1.1 billion of investment funding for the area, is now available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/west-yorkshire-devolution-deal .   The conferral of powers and implementation of the deal is subject to the statutory requirements for the necessary secondary legislation being met, including the consent of the West Yorkshire Councils to, and Parliamentary approval of, that legislation.

Council Tax: Arrears

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his his Department collects data on local authority compliance with best practice guidelines on collection of council tax arrears.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Department does not collect data on local authority compliance with best practice guidance on the collection of council tax arrears. The Government has been working with local government and the debt advice sector to develop updated best practice guidance on the collection of council tax and will publish this guidance in due course.

Ministry of Defence

Centre of Excellence for Human Security

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the feasibility study of the Centre of Excellence for Human Security.

James Heappey: I can confirm that the internal feasibility assessment has concluded and the next steps will be published shortly.

Ministry of Defence: Infrastructure and Projects Authority

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2020 to Question 26982, for what reasons his Department does not hold information on the costs and scope of its major projects portfolio; where that information is held; and what assessment he has made of the effect of not holding that information on ensuring that public money is appropriately spent on major defence projects.

Jeremy Quin: Information regarding individual Programmes is owned and held within the relevant Top Level Budget (TLB) areas by the Programmes' Senior Responsible Owners. Where the scope of a programme is subject to change at any point throughout its lifetime such as performance, cost or time, these are subject to the relevant TLBs approval process, and when appropriate, via the Head Office Investment Approvals Committee, to ensure value for money.

Armed Forces: Coronavirus

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is preparing to train service personnel to perform essential (a) public health, (b) nursing and (c) civil protection functions in the event that work forces are depleted or reassigned during the peak period of covid-19 infection.

James Heappey: Defence has a number of existing contingency operations to provide support to the civil authorities, including the Police and Her Majesty's Prisons and Probation Service. In light of the likely additional call on military assistance to mitigate COVID-19 related staff absence in civil authorities, Defence is reviewing its plans, training and readiness in order to support additional requests.

Committee On Arms Export Controls

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to support the establishment of a Committee on Arms Export Controls as a full non-departmental Select Committee.

Jeremy Quin: Any plan to change the status of the Committee on Arms Exports Controls from a joint meeting of members of the relevant departmental committees (Foreign Affairs, Defence, International Trade and International Development) to a standalone committee is a matter for the House of Commons.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what upgrade costs have been for the Jackal light patrol vehicle in the past twelve months; and whether that figure was included in the Defence Equipment Plan.

Jeremy Quin: Over the last twelve months the Army has not spent any money on upgrading the Jackal Light Patrol Vehicle.

Armed Forces: Coronavirus

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to prevent the spread of covid-19 among the armed forces.

James Heappey: Defence has issued to all Defence Establishments and personnel the latest Public Health England (PHE) advice on measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. An online staff information portal is in operation with the latest PHE advice and relevant Frequently Asked Questions. PHE material is being displayed in all parts of Defence and all Defence establishments are implementing recommended cleaning regimes. Some additional arrangements may be required around a small number of sensitive capabilities. Defence is keeping this situation under review.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment: Coronavirus

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking with the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland to ensure that no one who takes necessary public health precautions and is unable to attend work as a result of covid-19 will be unpaid.

Mims Davies: In the Budget on 11 March, the Chancellor announced new measures to help people who are unable to work as a result of covid-19. The Department is working with colleagues in Northern Ireland to ensure the same arrangements are in place across the UK.

Statutory Sick Pay

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of (a) universal credit, (b) contributory employment and support allowance and (c) other financial support for people who do not receive statutory sick pay.

Will Quince: Universal Credit (UC) is a modern, flexible, personalised benefit reflecting the rapidly changing world of work and replaces six outdated and complex benefits with one. It is simplifying the benefits system and making work pay. Monthly assessment periods align to the way the majority of people are paid and also allows UC to be adjusted each month. This means that if a claimant’s income falls, they will not have to wait several months for a rise in their UC. In the recent budget announcement on the 11 March 2020, the Chancellor announced the following changes to welfare provisions, in light of the fact not everyone will be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): Rules will be relaxed for self-employed UC claimants whose earnings are affected by self-isolating due to the coronavirus so they are not financially worse off; Gainfully Self Employed claimants on UC, who are required to self-isolate or are ill as a result of Covid 19, will not have a Minimum Income floor (an assumed level of income) applied for a period of time while affected. In addition, to better support the needs of people, particularly the self-employed and those not eligible for SSP, and/or not entitled to UC, we are removing the seven waiting days that currently apply to Employment Support Allowance (ESA). This means that everyone who makes a new claim for ESA and is entitled to the benefit, who are infected with COVID-19 or required to self-isolate, will be paid from day one of their claim.

Shared Housing: Local Housing Allowance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 2.20 on page 71 of the Budget 2020 Red Book, for what reasons the extensions of the shared accommodation rate exemptions to (a) rough sleepers aged 16 to 24, (b) care leavers up to the age of 25 and (c) survivors of domestic abuse and human trafficking will not be introduced until October 2023; if she will make the provision of discretionary housing payments automatic for each of those groups until that introduction date; and if she will make a statement.

Will Quince: The changes to the shared accommodation rate exemptions will require amendments to legislation as well as local authority and universal credit IT systems therefore they will take time to implement. We expect they will be in place from October 2023. In the meantime, for other individuals who may require more support and whose circumstances may make it difficult for them to share accommodation, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available. Due to their discretionary nature, DHPs will not be automatic as local authority decision makers are best placed to make informed judgements about relative priorities and needs in their area to ensure that the most vulnerable are supported and the limited funds are targeted effectively.

Care Leavers: Local Housing Allowance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will provide local authorities with updated guidance on awarding discretionary housing payments for care leavers until the shared accommodation rate exemption comes into force in 2023.

Will Quince: The Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) scheme is administered by Local Authorities (LAs) who have full discretion as to whether a claimant will receive a monetary award and set their own list of priorities.In order to support LAs to manage the allocation and administration of DHP awards, DWP produces a detailed guidance manual for LAs in England and Wales. The manual also includes a good practice guide, which offers both advice and examples of good practice in supporting vulnerable people. This manual already recommends LAs support care leavers.

Universal Credit: Housing

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the housing element of universal credit on trends in the levels of (a) homelessness, (b) health and well-being, (c) poverty and (d) the socio-economic profile of communities.

Will Quince: No such assessment has been made.

Jobcentres: Staff

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of staff employed in job centres that are in receipt of universal credit.

Mims Davies: Employees claiming Universal Credit have no obligation to inform DWP they are receiving benefits.

Universal Credit

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of (a) universal credit and (b) the roll-out of that benefit.

Will Quince: Universal Credit is now the main system of working age welfare support across the country. It is available in every Jobcentre, with a caseload of 2.8 million claimants, growing every month, now able to access the additional support and flexibilities it offers. This includes more help with childcare costs, a dedicated Work Coach and scrapping of the 16, 24 and 30 hours ‘cliff edges’. It will provide an extra £2.1bn a year to claimants once fully implemented and millions of people who move to Universal Credit from legacy benefits will be better off, including around a million disabled households who will gain on average around £100 per month.Universal Credit claimants receive tailored support to ensure they get the right help to find work and increase their earnings. It is supporting the wider labour market which has a record number of people in work at 32.9 million – up by over 3.8 million since 2010.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will bring forward proposals to amend Regulation B13 of the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 to create an exemption for people who live in Sanctuary Schemes after the decision of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in A v the United Kingdom.

Will Quince: We are carefully considering next steps in response to the European Court of Human Rights decision. In the meantime, for people in particular circumstances who may require more support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available. Since 2011 we have provided over £1billion in DHP funding, enabling local authorities to protect the most vulnerable claimants and supporting households to adapt to housing support reforms, including the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy policy. In addition, we recently announced an extra £40 million in DHPs for 2020/21.

Prisons: Industrial Health and Safety

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 9 March 2020 to Question 24399, Prisons: Industrial Health and Safety, on how many occasions the Health and Safety Executive inspectors were denied full access to workplaces within prisons in the last (a) two, (b) five and (c) 10 years.

Mims Davies: There have not been any occasions reported in the last two, five and ten years where Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Inspectors have been denied full access to workplaces within prisons.

Employment and Support Allowance: Disqualification

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many sanctions were made against claimants of employment and support allowance in Wales in each of the last 12 months; how many of those people sanctioned asked for a mandatory reconsideration; and how many decisions on those sanctions for which such a reconsideration was requested were upheld.

Mims Davies: The statistics are published in the Employment and Support Allowance Sanctions (Number of Decisions) dataset which can be found at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance for users is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average cost to her Department is to process (a) paper and (b) oral hearings for mandatory reconsiderations for employment and support allowance.

Justin Tomlinson: The average cost to the Department to process a mandatory reconsideration for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in the last full financial year was £70. This is a combined figure for Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and Non-Work Capability Assessment cases. All mandatory reconsiderations are ‘paper based’, although we may speak to the customer to get more information. The costs provided are taken from the DWP’s Activity Based Models1 at an Operating Costs level which includes direct costs relating to staff undertaking the activities (staff, and local non-staff costs only). They do not include higher level support costs such as management and corporate overheads relating to administration activities. 1Please note that data supplied from the Departmental Activity Based Models is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards. It should therefore be treated with caution and as an indication and not as a definitive cost. The Departmental Activity Based models are a snapshot of how many people were identified as undertaking specified activities as assigned by line managers. The data is frequently revised and changes to the definitions affect comparisons over time.

Universal Credit

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number recipients of universal credit who have (a) taken out loans and (b) fallen into debt or arrears in the two month period from the date of their initial application for universal credit.

Will Quince: The Department does not hold this information.

Universal Credit

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons maternity allowance is treated as unearned income and deducted from an award of universal credit award whereas statutory maternity pay is often disregarded in the calculation for that benefit as a result of the work allowance and 63 percent earnings taper rate; what assessment her Department has made of the financial effect of that policy on women on maternity allowance who apply for universal credit; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Maternity Action's briefing, Different treatment of Maternity Allowance and Statutory Maternity Pay in the calculation of Universal Credit awards, published February 2020, what steps her Department is taking to ensure equitable treatment of pregnant women and new mothers in receipt of (a) maternity allowance and (b) statutory maternity pay who apply for universal credit.

Mims Davies: Statutory Maternity Pay is paid by an employer through their payroll system and is therefore a form of earnings subject to the work allowance (where a claimant is eligible) and tapering, in the same way as other earned income. Universal Credit seeks to take earnings into account in a way that is fair and transparent. The amount of Universal Credit paid reflects, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household during each monthly assessment period, including any earnings reported by their employer or employers during the assessment period, regardless of when they were paid, or which month they relate to. Assessment periods allow for Universal Credit awards to be adjusted on a monthly basis, ensuring that if a claimant’s income changes, they do not have to wait several months for a corresponding change in their Universal Credit award. Claimants can discuss the implications of any changes in earnings with their Case Manager or Work Coach and can be referred to personal budgeting support to help them manage their budgeting.

Maternity Allowance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women are in receipt of maternity allowance; and what estimate she has made of the proportion of those women who are (a) an employee, (b) a worker and (c) self-employed.

Mims Davies: The available information on the number of claimants receiving Maternity Allowance is published and can be found in table MA5 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/maternity-allowance-quarterly-statistics Table MA7 of this publication shows the number of women receiving maternity allowance by employment status. It should be noted that the figures shown in this table refer only to women whose spell of maternity allowance commenced in the period, for the latest publication this is June to August 2019, and do not represent the total number of claimants shown in table MA5.

Employment

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many companies in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK have signed up to the voluntary reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing framework.

Justin Tomlinson: Government has worked with large employers and expert partners to develop a voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to support organisations to record and voluntarily report information on disability, mental health and wellbeing in the workplace; thereby encouraging employers to be more transparent and start having open conversations about disability and health at work. We continue to work with employers and expert partners to promote its usage, including requiring new and renewing Disability Confident Level 3 Leaders to use it however, there is no requirement for companies to notify Government if they have signed up to the framework.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who claimed support for childcare through universal credit in the last 12 months also applied for (a) advance payment of that benefit or (b) the flexible support fund.

Will Quince: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Access to Work Programme: Greater London

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the level of uptake of the Access to Work scheme in (a) Bermondsey and Old Southwark constituency and (b) London.

Justin Tomlinson: The latest figures for Access to Work may be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2019 There are two main types of Access to Work provision: Assessments and Elements. More than one item of Access to Work provision of the same type or of different types can be approved for the same person in a given financial year or in different financial years. Table 3 of the Access to Work Statistics includes the number of people who had any Access to Work provision approved by various customer characteristics. Within the regions breakdown you will find the number of people who were approved for any Access to Work provision in London. In 2018/19, 80 people in the Bermondsey and Old Southwark constituency had any Access to Work provision approved. We do not routinely publish geographic breakdowns to constituency level. This figure was obtained from the Department for Work and Pensions’ Disability Service Client (DiSC) administrative system and is rounded to the nearest 10.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Tree Planting

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which body is responsible for monitoring progress against the target to plant 75,000 acres of trees per year; what progress his Department has made towards meeting that target; and what the timescale is for achieving that target.

Rebecca Pow: As forestry is devolved, Defra is responsible for policies to increase tree planting in England. We will work with the devolved administrations to increase planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025. In the spring, we will consult on an English Tree Strategy with measures to increase planting in England supported by the Nature for Climate Fund. Woodland creation is monitored by the Forestry Commission and its counterparts in the devolved administrations.

Peat Bogs: Fires

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2020 to Question 19781 on Peat Bogs: Fires, what his timescale is for assessing the potential merits of legislative proposals.

Rebecca Pow: Our intention has always been to legislate if a voluntary approach failed to deliver. We are currently considering the next steps.

Coronavirus: Waste Management

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what contingency measures he has put in place for potential waste management workforce challenges arising from the spread of covid-19.

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on potential risks arising from workforce challenges caused by covid-19.

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on public health of undisposed waste arising from local authority workforce challenges caused by covid-19.

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what additional funding will be made available to local authorities to deal with potential waste management issues arising from workforce challenges caused by covid-19.

Rebecca Pow: Defra is engaging with the waste industry, local authorities, the Environment Agency, and other relevant parties to discuss contingency planning for waste management as a result of potential workforce challenges posed by the spread of covid-19. These discussions include consideration of potential risks and impacts and whether further measures or resources funding might be necessary.

Nature Conservation: Finance

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has allocated funding to the establishment of nature recovery networks.

Rebecca Pow: Biodiversity is a devolved matter and the information here relates to England only. The Government announced in the recent budget an investment of up to £25 million in a Nature Recovery Network (NRN) Fund which will bring together businesses, landowners and local communities to protect and restore habitats, species and landscapes to allow nature to thrive everywhere. That is not the extent of our ambition. We are bringing forward the first Environment Bill in over 20 years to lay the foundation for the NRN. It establishes spatial strategies for nature – Local Nature Recovery Strategies - that will help direct investment in recovery. It also makes provision for Biodiversity Net Gain, which will provide an important source of investment in the NRN. In addition, the Nature for Climate Fund, also announced in the budget, will support natural habitats like woodlands and peat bogs. Our new Environmental Land Management scheme, underpinned by the Agricultural Bill, will reward farmers and other land managers for delivering environmental public goods, including thriving plants and wildlife. We are exploring, for example through our testing and trials programme, and the government’s recently published policy discussion document, how the scheme can support the NRN.

Animal Welfare: Trade Agreements

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's plans are on animal welfare standards in future trade deals.

Victoria Prentis: The Government is proud of the high animal welfare standards that underpin our high-quality Great British produce. We have made a clear manifesto commitment that in all of our trade negotiations we will not compromise on these standards. The Government will stand firm in trade negotiations to ensure any future trade deals live up to the values of farmers and consumers across the UK.

Home Office

UK Border Force

Antony Higginbotham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to strengthen the UK Border Force.

Chris Philp: Since 2018, Border Force staffing has increased from 7,700 to over 8,700 to boost wider operational resilience. This includes a brand-new Readiness Task Force (RTF) of c. 300 multi-functional officers, available to deploy across the UK at short notice in response to emerging issues and peaks in demand.The Government is developing a new global border and immigration system that makes better use of data, biometrics, analytics and automation to improve both security and fluidity across the borderWe intend to introduce a requirement for visitors and transit passengers who do not currently need a visa to come to the UK to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), as an additional security measure. This will enable the Government to conduct security checks on passengers and make more informed decisions on information obtained at an earlier stage, as to whether individuals should be allowed to travel to and enter the UK.We are also investing in new technology, including ePassport gates and other modern detection technology to improve security and prevent illegal entry.As previously announced, we intend to phase out the acceptance of EEA and Swiss national identity cards to enter the UK in the future. National identity cards are often the most insecure and forged documents detected at the border and are not compatible with the ePassport gates. By making better use of digital technology and automation, Border Force will be able to provide an improved service whilst maintaining security.

Sponsorship: EU Nationals

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what preparations the UKVI has made to process licence applications from businesses that wish to sponsor European nationals; and what assessment she has made of the preparedness of that organisation to undertake that work.

Kevin Foster: UK Visas & Immigration continually monitors the effectiveness of the sponsor licensing operation to ensure process efficiency and customer delivery. The unit continues to meet performance standards and this is reflected in the sponsorship transparency data. The transparency data can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sponsorship-transparency-data-february-2020The requirements for the licensing operation to deal with licence applications from employees for the new UK points-based system has been factored into the implementation plan for the new system.

Offences against Children: Internet

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of self-generated child sexual abuse images.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of self-generated child sexual abuse images online.

Victoria Atkins: The WePROTECT Global Alliance (WPGA) is a global movement founded by the UK Government that brings together the influence, expertise and resources required to transform how online child sexual exploitation is dealt with worldwide.The 2019 WePROTECT Global Alliance Threat Assessment stated that there has been a significant increase in Self-Generated Indecent Images in the last two years, whether produced consensually or as the result of manipulation or coercion.In addition, the Home Office and the Internet Watch Foundation have a good partnership. In the first six months of 2019, the Internet Watch Foundation responded to 22,484 reports of self-generated CSAM online (exactly one third of all the reports they actioned in this period).Of all the reports, 96% featured girls, 2% featured boys and 2% featured girls and boys together. Of this imagery, over 10% of this imagery of girls, and nearly 20% of the imagery of boys, featured children aged between 7 and 10 years old.The Government set out in the Serious Organised Crime Strategy 2018 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/serious-and-organised-crime-strategy-2018 that companies must be at the forefront of efforts to deny offenders access to children and child sexual abuse material via their platforms and services, this includes self-generated Indecent images.

Undocumented Migrants: France

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the funding allocated from the Joint Intervention Fund to each (a) programme and (b) activity in relation to the (i) Le Touquet agreement and (ii) Sandhurst Treaty in 2019-2020.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding from the Joint Intervention fund in relation to the (a) Le Touquet agreement and (b) Sandhurst Treaty has been allocated to the cost of policing in Calais.

Chris Philp: The Joint Intervention Fund was a pot of £12 million spent between 2014-2016 on border security in northern France. This funding was used to improve security infrastructure at the Ports of Calais and Dunkirk (including fencing and cameras), and at the Eurotunnel terminal of Calais. Approximately £2.5 million of the fund was utilised to improve the Juxtaposed Controls at Calais and thereby deliver on commitments under the Le Touquet Treaty.Neither the Joint Intervention Fund or the funding allocated under the 2018 Sandhurst Treaty has been utilised to support policing costs in Calais, which remain the responsibility of the French Government. Under the 2019 Small Boats Joint Action Plan, the UK has supported the deployment of Gendarmes reservists to improve the detection of small boats crossings.

Refugees: Children

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that children with disabilities and learning difficulties can apply to the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme.

Chris Philp: The Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS) has resettled over 1,747 refugees, including children and their families, from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.We work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) who refer eligible cases to the UK for resettlement. VCRS cases are referred under the Children and Adolescents at Risk UNHCR resettlement submission category, which includes children with disabilities and other needs.

Counter-terrorism: Finance

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increased funding for the counter-terrorism budget.

James Brokenshire: The Secretary of State for the Home Department set out recent changes to funding for Counter-Terrorism (CT) in her written statement on 21 January 2020.This set out a package of measures including a major overhaul of prisons and probation, tougher monitoring conditions for terrorist offenders, and doubling the number of Counter-Terrorism probation officers. A £90m year-on-year increase in funding for Counter-Terrorism Policing was also announced (taking total funding to £906m in 2020-21), as well as an immediate £0.5m to further support the victims of terrorism.

Drugs: Organised Crime

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government plans to take to tackle sexual exploitation occurring as a result of county lines activity.

Victoria Atkins: The Government recognises the devastating impact of county lines activity on children and vulnerable people which can include both sexual and criminal exploitation.We are determined to disrupt these ruthless gangs and put an end to the exploitation associated with county lines. The Home Office has announced £25m of targeted investment over this year and next to uplift the law enforcement response to this exploitative model of drugs supply and to increase specialist support to children, young people and their families who are affected.This is in addition to providing £3.6m to establish the new National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) in September 2018, which has significantly enhanced our cross-border intelligence and activity on county lines to better safeguard and protect victims of county lines. Work is ongoing to protect the exploited and target the offenders, and in four separate weeks of law enforcement intensification over 2,500 arrests have been made and over 3,000 vulnerable individuals have been engaged for safeguarding.The Government provides a range of support for county lines victims including: funding Young People’s Advocates in Birmingham, Manchester and London to work directly with gang-affected women and girls, especially if they have been victims, or are at risk, of sexual violence by gangs including county lines; funding through the Trusted Relationships fund of £13 million to help foster relationships between frontline professionals and young people at risk of sexual exploitation including exploitation through county lines; and the £22m Early Intervention Youth Fund is funding 10 projects which will specifically address those at risk of involvement in county lines and criminal exploitation.

Prevent Independent Review

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timetable is for the Independent Review of Prevent.

James Brokenshire: The Government is committed to the Independent Review of Prevent and has decided to run a full and open recruitment process to appoint the next reviewer.Further details on the next steps, including the timetable of the recruitment exercise, will be announced shortly. The implications of this decision for the timing of the Review will be set out to Parliament in due course.

Slavery

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of recent trends in the number of incidents of modern slavery.

Kit Malthouse: trends in modern slavery in the UK. The 2019 report was published in October 2019 and can be found on gov.uk here: Modern Slavery Annual Report 2019. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/840059/Modern_Slavery_Report_2019.pdfThe Home Office publishes quarterly statistics on potential victims referred to the National Referral Mechanism published on gov.uk here: NRM quarterly statistics. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-referral-mechanism-statistics-quarter-3-2019-july-to-septemberThe Office for National Statistics will publish a report called ‘Modern Slavery in the UK: March 2020’ on 26 March 2020. The report will bring together data sources linked to modern slavery and will be available here when published: ONS Modern Slavery in the UK. https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/developinganapproachtomeasuremodernslaveryintheuk

European Arrest Warrants: Gibraltar

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the maintenance of a framework similar to the European Arrest Warrant for Gibraltar after UK access to the European Arrest Warrants ends.

James Brokenshire: The Government has always been clear that Gibraltar is an integral part of our negotiations with the EU and we have committed to involve Gibraltar fully as we negotiate the next stage of the UK-EU relationship.The UK is not seeking to participate in the European Arrest Warrant as part of the future relationship. The agreement should instead provide for fast-track extradition arrangements, based on the EU’s Surrender Agreement with Norway and Iceland which came into force in 2019, but with appropriate further safeguards for individuals beyond those in the European Arrest Warrant.

Visas: Foreign Nationals

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether UK Visas and Immigration plans to apply the automatic three month visa extension offered to Chinese nationals will be offered to all nationalities affected by covid-19.

Kevin Foster: We are taking a pragmatic approach to visa extensions due to the coronavirus outbreak. We continue to monitor the situation in all countries, and we are keeping this under constant review.A dedicated coronavirus immigration helpline https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-immigration-guidance-if-youre-unable-to-return-to-china-from-the-uk#helpline has been set up for those who wish to discuss their circumstances. The freephone number is 0800 678 1767 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).

British Nationality: Children

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many citizenship applications for children have been processed in the most recent reporting period.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office publishes data on citizenship in the . https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-releaseData on applications for British citizenship are published in tables Cit_D01 and Cit_D02 of the https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/managed-migration-datasetsInformation on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending December 2019. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the summary tables. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on citizenship.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Northern Ireland Office

Cultural Heritage: Northern Ireland

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support and (b) promote the Ulster-Scots cultural heritage in communities throughout Northern Ireland.

Mr Robin Walker: The devolved administration in Northern Ireland is primarily responsible for supporting and promoting languages, including Ulster-Scots. The New Decade, New Approach agreement contains important commitments for the Northern Ireland Executive to progress on supporting and promoting Ulster-Scots language and culture.In reserved areas, such as broadcasting, the Government is committed to supporting Ulster- Scots as appropriate, and has ensured that the BBC Framework Agreement includes a specific clause which provides a clear commitment for the BBC to continue to deliver output in Ulster- Scots, and provides funding for the Ulster-Scots Broadcasting Fund (USBF).The Government has also itself committed, under the New Decade, New Approach agreement, to supporting discussions with NI Screen to explore how the remit of the Ulster USBF can be broadened, and will increase funding to reflect any broadened remit. The Government will also, under the New Decade, New Approach agreement, work to recognise Ulster-Scots as a national minority under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

Treasury

Gaming Machines: Excise Duties

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much Machine Games Duty was paid by (a) individuals and (b) organisations based in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: During the last five financial years HMRC received the following payments for Machine Games Duty (MGD) from UK taxpayers:2014/15 = £562.3 million2015/16 = £663.3 million2016/17 = £707.0 million2017/18 = £712.2 million2018/19 = £720.0 millionHMRC publish information on total MGD receipts within the ‘UK Betting and Gaming Statistics’ publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-betting-and-gaming-statistics. No disaggregation of MGD receipts paid by individuals and organisations in Northern Ireland is available as this information is not recorded on trader returns or cash receipts.

Gaming Machines: Excise Duties

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) individuals and (b) organisations based in Northern Ireland are registered to pay Machine Games Duty.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) individuals and (b) organisations based in Northern Ireland are registered to pay Bingo Duty.

Jesse Norman: HMRC registration data indicates that there are 791 businesses registered for Machine Games Duty and 27 registered for Bingo Duty with a Northern Ireland postcode. HMRC cannot split the data by business type for NI alone. The HMRC figure for registrations with an NI postcode does not include any UK-wide businesses which are registered to a GB address.

Bingo: Excise Duties

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much Bingo Duty was paid by (a) individuals and (b) organisations based in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: During the last five financial years HMRC received the following payments for Bingo Duty from UK taxpayers: 2014/15 = £47.0 million2015/16 = £33.9 million2016/17 = £34.5 million2017/18 = £32.4 million2018/19 = £33.4 million HMRC publish information on total Bingo Duty receipts within the ‘UK Betting and Gaming Statistics’ publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-betting-and-gaming-statistics No disaggregation of Bingo Duty receipts paid by individuals and organisations in Northern Ireland is available as this information is not recorded on trader returns or cash receipts.

Payroll Deduction Scheme

Saqib Bhatti: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that payroll loan schemes are not promoted following the recommendations of Sir Amyas Morse's review.

Jesse Norman: In December 2019 the Government announced in its response to Sir Amyas Morse’s Independent Loan Charge Review further measures to tackle promoters of avoidance schemes, including those designed to disguise remuneration. Further detail on these measures was set out in the Budget and HMRC will be publishing a new strategy to combat those who profit from marketing and selling tax avoidance schemes. The Government will also shortly issue a call for evidence on further steps to reduce or end the use of disguised remuneration schemes. HMRC actively monitor the tax avoidance market and take action against active promoters, particularly those involved in devising and marketing new tax avoidance schemes. HMRC undertake a variety of activities such as challenging promoters for failures under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) regime and pursuing criminal investigations and arrests where appropriate.

Foreign Companies: Internet

Scott Benton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking with his international counterparts to ensure that internet-based businesses pay an adequate level of tax in the UK.

Jesse Norman: Ensuring that digital businesses pay their fair share of tax in the UK is a priority for the Government.The Government is actively working on a multilateral solution to ensure that digital businesses pay an appropriate level of tax in the countries in which they operate.Pending that solution, the Government is introducing the digital services tax from April 2020; a 2% tax on the UK revenues of social media platforms, online marketplaces and search engines.

Imports: Occupied Territories

Christian Matheson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value of goods imported to the UK from the occupied Palestinian territories was in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, and (c) 2019.

Jesse Norman: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are responsible for the collection of statistics on goods imported to and exported from the United Kingdom, which are published on a monthly basis as the Overseas Trade Statistics. The value (GB pounds sterling) of goods imported into the UK from the occupied Palestinian Territories in calendar years 2017, 2018 and 2019 is as follows: UK Goods Imports From:201720182019Occupied Palestinian Territories£1,246,795£1,713,290£1,794,947 Source: HMRC – UK Overseas Trade Statistics (extracted from uktradeinfo.com).

Imports: Israel

Christian Matheson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the (a) proportion of goods imported to the UK from Israel that were produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2019 and (b) value of those goods.

Jesse Norman: The information requested is not available. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are responsible for the collection of statistics on goods imported to and exported from the United Kingdom, including (separately) those to and from Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. However, HMRC do not produce estimates or hold data on goods imported into the UK from Israel that were produced in Israeli settlements of the occupied Palestinian Territories.

Non-domestic Rates: Valuation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will include in his review of business rates the criteria of (a) fairness for local businesses, (b) the long-term effect of changes to the system on sustainable local government finance and (c) the benefits and disadvantages of business rates compared with (i) land value taxation and (ii) other models; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Government published the Terms of Reference for the Business Rates Review alongside the Budget. The terms cover the Government’s objectives for the review as well as its scope and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-rates-review-terms-of-reference/hm-treasury-fundamental-review-of-business-rates-terms-of-reference

Self-employed: Tax Avoidance

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) sole traders and (b) people working in the gig economy are not adversely affected by changes to IR35 legislation.

Jesse Norman: The off-payroll working rules (IR35) do not apply to people who are self-employed, such as sole traders. The Government is committed to working with organisations to ensure that changes to the rules are implemented correctly. HMRC are undertaking an extensive programme of education and support to help organisations prepare for the reform.

Self-employed: Tax Avoidance

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to reduce uncertainty for (a) contractors and (b) businesses that are affected by the changes to IR35.

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people will be affected by the proposed changes to IR35 in (a) Medway, (b) Kent and (c) the South East.

Jesse Norman: The Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published in July 2019 sets out HMRC’s assessment that the reform to the off-payroll working rules is expected to affect 170,000 individuals. The TIIN can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020. HMRC are undertaking an extensive programme of education and support to help organisations and contractors prepare for the reform. This includes: Offering one-to-one support to more than 2,000 of the UK’s biggest employers, and writing directly to 43,000 medium sized businesses and other organisations.Providing large and medium sized businesses, public bodies, and charities with factsheets to share with their contractors, and publishing this factsheet on gov.uk.Holding workshops with small tax agents, recruitment agencies, charities, and public bodies.Holding webinars at least weekly, with small tax agents, recruitment agencies, charities, public bodies and contractors.Publishing an enhanced version of the Check Employment Status for Tax online tool in November 2019 to help individuals and organisations make the right status determinations and apply the off-payroll rules correctly.

Economic Situation: Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK economy is prepared for the potential effect of covid-19.

John Glen: At Budget 2020 the Chancellor set out a £12 billion package of timely, temporary and targeted measures to support public services, individuals and businesses experiencing economic disruption because of COVID-19. Further information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/support-for-those-affected-by-covid-19

Credit: Interest Rates

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what safeguards are in place to protect consumers from payday lenders that have gone into administration.

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Financial Conduct Authority has for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to cover payday lenders that mis-sell or go into administration.

John Glen: The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, including payday lending, by transferring responsibility to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014. This more robust regulatory system is helping to deliver the Government’s vision for a well-functioning and sustainable consumer credit market which is able to meet the needs of all consumers. Where the FCA has found issues with firms’ practices through its supervision process, it has acted. However, many complaints regarding payday lenders originate before the FCA was responsible for the regulation in this market. When a firm enters administration, assets are pooled and used to cover customer redress claims and administration costs with these claims being addressed in order of the creditor hierarchy. The payment of redress claims is a matter for the administrators. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is the compensation scheme of last resort for customers of UK authorised financial services firms and is funded by a levy on industry. The FSCS is an independent non-governmental body and carries out its compensation function within rules set by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the FCA. The FCA has the power to decide which activities are given FSCS protection. In 2016, the FCA decided not to extend FSCS protection to most consumer credit activities because it believed other regulatory requirements were sufficient. The full reasoning behind the FCA’s decision is set out in a letter from its Chief Executive to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee on 15 February 2019.

Red Diesel: Excise Duties

Alan Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to line 39, table 2.1 of the Budget 2020 Red Book, HC 121, if he will provide a sectoral breakdown of the estimated revenue increases from the removal of tax relief for red diesel.

Jesse Norman: As set out in the policy costings document published alongside Budget 2020, the Government used the BEIS Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES, 2019) to estimate the proportion of red diesel that would have its relief removed. The BEIS publication provides a sectoral breakdown of the different uses of gas oil (off-road diesel), and this is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/digest-of-uk-energy-statistics-dukes-2019 The current users of red diesel that will lose their entitlement to use it from April 2022 will pay the standard duty rate for diesel. As of 2019-20, the red diesel fuel duty rate is 11.14 pence per litre (ppl), and standard duty rate for diesel is 57.95ppl. The policy costings document provides more information on the assumptions and methodology underlying the costing for the removal of the entitlement to use red diesel from most sectors from April 2022, and this is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2020-documents

Red Diesel

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.247 on page 63 of the Budget 2020 Red Book, what assessment his Department has made of potential effect of the removal of the entitlement to use red diesel from April 2022 on local government.

Jesse Norman: At Budget 2020, the Chancellor announced that the Government will remove the entitlement to use red diesel from April 2022, except in agriculture, fish farming, rail and non-commercial heating (including domestic heating). These changes to the tax treatment of red diesel may affect some public sector bodies, such as local government. While the Government expects them to reduce diesel consumption, it will discuss pressures that arise with affected departments as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review scheduled for later this year. As set out in the policy costings document published alongside Budget 2020, the red diesel costing accounts for an increase in the overall resource spending envelope of £150 million per annum departmental spending to account for the fact that part of the costs of the policy will fall upon the public sector.

Pre-school Education: Non-domestic Rates

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether nursery schools in England with a rateable value below £51,000 will be eligible for the expanded business rate relief announced in Budget 2020.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many nurseries in England successfully applied for small business rate relief in each of the last ten years.

Jesse Norman: The Government is increasing the business rates retail discount to 100% for 2020-21 and expanding it to include the leisure and hospitality sectors. Private childcare providers may be eligible for up to 100% Small Business Rate Relief. The Government has taken repeated action to reduce the burden of business rates for all ratepayers, worth more than £13 billion over the next five years. Local Authorities continue to have powers to offer business rates discounts beyond pre-defined reliefs at their discretion.

Lone Parents: Coronavirus

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support he will provide to in-work single parents in the event that  schools close due to the covid-19 outbreak.

Steve Barclay: The government’s current advice is that no education or children’s social care setting should close in response to a suspected or confirmed Covid-19 case, unless advised to do so by Public Health England. In the meantime, Budget has announced temporary, timely and targeted measures worth £12 billion to support the country through this period of disruption. As part of this package, self-isolators, and those caring for them, will have access to Statutory Sick Pay or New Style Employment and Support Allowance from day one of their absence. We are also ensuring Universal Credit supports the self-employed. Budget also announced £500 million for Local Authorities in England to provide support to affected vulnerable households in their local area.

Coronavirus: Wales

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Welsh Government will receive from the covid-19 response package announced in Budget 2020.

John Glen: As announced earlier this week, the devolved administrations will receive at least £1.5 billion to provide support to people, businesses and public services affected by COVID-19 in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This includes at least £475 million for the Welsh Government. Funding being provided this week is in addition to UK-wide support to tackle the impact of COVID-19, such as extending Statutory Sick Pay, making it easier and quicker to access benefits, and providing a Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

Public Expenditure: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on the Welsh economy of (a) raising and (b) removing the Welsh Government’s annual capital borrowing cap.

Steve Barclay: Under the Wales Act 2014, the Welsh Government was given powers to borrow up to £125m per year from 2018-19 within an overall cap of £500m. Following the Welsh Government’s Fiscal Framework of December 2016, the Wales Act 2017 increased the overall capital borrowing cap to £1bn and, from April 2019, the annual capital borrowing limit to £150m. The Welsh Government have yet to use these powers. The UK government is committed to supporting and delivering growth across the UK, including in Wales. There are 144,000 more people in employment in Wales than in 2010 and over 31,000 more businesses.

Free Zones

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on proposals for freeports of the UK trading with the EU under WTO rules after the transition period.

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department have made of the effect on proposals for freeports of the UK trading with the EU under CETA rules after the transition period.

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made on proposals for freeports of the UK trading with the EU under existing trading arrangements after the transition period.

Jesse Norman: The Government is seeking a friendly relationship with the EU, based on free trade and as sovereign equals. That relationship will be established on 1 January next year. The Government will also strike trade deals with old and new friends and partners across the globe. Aside from the UK’s future trading relationships, the Government is consulting on creating up to 10 freeports to level up communities across the UK. The Government are currently consulting publicly on freeports policy, including on a new, ambitious customs model.

Cemeteries: Non-domestic Rates

Greg Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many cemeteries are exempt from paying business rates in England.

Greg Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many cemeteries pay business rates in England; and how much revenue was raised from business rates paid by cemeteries in the last two financial years.

Greg Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many cemeteries operated by parish councils pay business rates in England; and how much revenue was raised from business rates from such cemeteries in the last two financial years.

Jesse Norman: The Government does not hold this information. Properties which are exempt from business rates, including some cemeteries, are not assessed by the Valuation Office Agency.

Revenue and Customs: Redundancy

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff have left HMRC as a result of (a) voluntary exits, (b) voluntary redundancies and (c) compulsory redundancies since the start of the Building Our Future Programme, broken down by region.

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost has been of (a) voluntary exits, (b) voluntary redundancies and (c) compulsory redundancies among the staff of HMRC since the start of the Building our Future Programme.

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) voluntary exits, (b) voluntary redundancies and (c) compulsory redundancies there will be among HMRC staff in 2020-21; and what the projected cost is of those exits and redundancies.

Jesse Norman: Since the start of the Building Our Future Programme, 2,695 people have left HMRC as a result of Voluntary Exit, Voluntary Redundancy or Compulsory Redundancy at a cost of £91,618,846. Tables a) and b) below provide a breakdown of those numbers and associated costs. For offices closing in 2020-21, HMRC estimate that there will be approximately 3,138 exits at a cost of £128,523,595. Table c) provides a breakdown of those estimated exits by type. a) Breakdown of exits to date, by type and by region RegionTotal number of exitsVoluntary ExitVoluntary Redundancy Compulsory RedundancyEast27817197 10East Midlands1386173 4London16254106 2North East404 0North West6440580 64Northern Ireland18816161 11Scotland2330214 19South East37318315 40South West525116350 59West Midlands1032078 5Yorks & Humber471530 2Grand Total26954712008 216b) Breakdown of exit cost to date, by type Total Exit CostsVoluntary ExitVoluntary RedundancyCompulsory Redundancy£91,618,846£17,494,697£71,110,401£3,013,748   c) Breakdown of exits relating to 2020-21 office closures Estimated number of exitsEstimated exit costEstimated Voluntary ExitEstimated Voluntary RedundancyEstimated Compulsory Redundancy3,138£128,523,59502,887251

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Malvern Hills Trust

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Answer of 7 October 2019 to Question 290901, on Malvern Hills Trust, what plans he has to amend the governance provisions of the Malvern Hills Trust to make that trust subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Oliver Dowden: The Department has no plans to make the Malvern Hills Trust subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Malvern Hills Trust recently consulted publicly on proposals to amend its governance provisions and will set out its next steps in due course. The Department is in discussion with the Charity Commission and the charity on the most appropriate means of taking the changes forward and ensuring Parliamentary scrutiny.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the cost effectiveness of the (a) National Citizen Service and (b) NCS Trust.

Oliver Dowden: The most recent publicly available figure from the NCS 2016 evaluation report show that for every £1 of taxpayer money spent on the 2016 summer programme, £1.79 is provided back to society by the NCS programme in terms of the economic benefit. For the 2016 Autumn programme for every £1 spend, £2.21 is provided back in terms of the economic benefits. The economic benefits relate to the identified impact the NCS programme has in respect to volunteering and leadership. The NCS Trust is the Royal Chartered Arms-Length Body overseeing and implementing the programme, in line with the NCS Act 2017. The NCS Trust’s budget is reviewed and approved by DCMS on an annual basis in line with Managing Public Money standards. The National Audit Office audits the NCS Trust’s accounts each year.

Chatterley Whitfield Colliery

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) Historic England and (b) local authorities to preserve Chatterley Whitfield Colliery.

Nigel Huddleston: Chatterley Whitfield Colliery is one of the UK’s most important industrial heritage sites, and is deserving of a positive regeneration solution to protect it for future generations. The previous Heritage Minister recently visited the Chatterley Whitfield Colliery alongside representatives from Historic England and Stoke-on-Trent City Council to discuss the issues facing the site, and to seek to identify potential next steps and opportunities for its future. The scale of the challenge presented by a site of this size and complexity is vast, but Government stands ready to further support Historic England and Stoke-on-Trent City Council in their ongoing conversations to find a long-term solution that will provide a sustainable future for Chatterley Whitfield.

Sports: Facilities

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has plans to allocate funding from the public purse to the refurbishment of former sports centres in (a) Stoke-on-Trent North constituency and (b) England.

Nigel Huddleston: Government's Sporting Future strategy emphasises the important role that facilities play in encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds to get more active.Through Sport England, Government is investing over £120m into grassroots facilities across England between 2017-2021 to make sure that everyone is able to access high quality sports facilities, regardless of where they live.So far, during their current investment period (2017-2021), Sport England has awarded over £12.5k to improve or refurbish sports facilities in Stoke on Trent North.Sport England welcome applications from projects looking to take over an underused sports facility or one under threat of closure. More information is available on Sport England’s website: https://www.sportengland.org/how-we-can-help/our-funds/community-asset-fund

Internet: Safety

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the Government plans to bring forward the Online Harms Bill.

Caroline Dinenage: As set out in the Queen’s Speech, the Online Harms Bill is a key legislative priority for this Government. Last month we published our initial government response to the White Paper consultation and we are working at pace on our legislative proposals, which will be brought forward when Parliamentary time allows.

Government Departments: Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what checks are made to identify and prevent the incorrect flying of flags on Government buildings.

Nigel Huddleston: DCMS is responsible for informing UK Government Departments of the designated days for the flying of the Union Flag throughout the year and in conjunction with FCO, No.10 and the Royal Household, informing Departments of any instructions on the half-masting of flags, any other flag instructions and silences. Guidance is sent to all UK Government Buildings and is published on GOV.UK. There is no specific Government policy regarding the flying of flags and we do not have responsibility for flag management on each Government building. Individual Government departments, via their Facilities Contractors, are responsible for ensuring that flags are flown correctly on their buildings.

Heritage Lottery Fund: British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding access to Heritage Lottery Funding to the Overseas Territories.

Nigel Huddleston: The National Lottery Heritage Fund is able in principle to consider applications from outside the UK. However, the Fund’s Trustees must be satisfied that the project itself is of importance to the heritage of the United Kingdom and is accessible to the United Kingdom public, as the individuals who purchase National Lottery tickets. There are significant demands placed on funds by UK-based projects, meaning that the use of the National Lottery Heritage Fund funding for projects outside of the United Kingdom has been and continues to be a low priority, and in practice the National Lottery Heritage Fund has not funded projects outside the UK. In its new Strategic Funding Framework, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has made a commitment to increasing its international work, with an ambition to see the UK’s heritage grow and learn by taking up opportunities to engage internationally. It will promote opportunities to build the capacity of organisations to make international connections and to benefit from doing so.

Cultural Heritage: British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department allocates any funding to maintain important sites of British heritage in the Overseas Territories.

Nigel Huddleston: HMG values the heritage of the UK's Overseas Territories. We represent their interests in UNESCO in respect of four World Heritage Sites, including those in Bermuda, Gibraltar, Gough and Inaccessible Islands, and Henderson Island. We continue to support all four in the diverse range of challenges they face. This includes £2 million from the Government’s Conflict, Security and Security Fund to protect the rare bird species on Gough Island. We are exploring further support for the heritage of the Overseas Territories as part of the next phase of our international Cultural Protection Fund.

Football: Coronavirus

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing financial support for football league teams in the event that they play matches without fans as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Nigel Huddleston: Football clubs are the heart of local communities, they have unique social value and many with a great history. We will continue to liaise closely with the sector as the situation develops.

Arts: Children

Antony Higginbotham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve access for children to music, film, dance and theatre.

Caroline Dinenage: Arts Council England (ACE) funds a number of national music and cultural education programmes across the country focused on children and young people. For example, DCMS works closely with DfE to deliver Music Education hubs which help hundreds of thousands of young people learn to play an instrument in whole classes every year. Alongside this, ACE supports a range of organisations that provide cultural programmes specifically aimed at children. DCMS has also committed £2m to the Creative Careers Programme: an industry-designed and led initiative to raise awareness amongst children and young people of opportunities for work across the creative economy.

Data Protection: UK Relations With EU

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff in his Department are working on securing a data adequacy agreement between the EU and the UK.

Mr John Whittingdale: In his statement of 3 February, the Prime Minister confirmed that it is HMG’s intention to secure adequacy decisions to allow for the continued free flow of data between the UK and EU.Teams across Whitehall, led by DCMS, are treating adequacy decisions as a priority and are continuing to work towards this aim.DCMS has a Data Adequacy Hub to lead the adequacy assessment process, supported by policy staff from the DCMS Data Policy Directorate and by DCMS legal staff. In addition, given the adequacy assessment process will be a cross Government exercise, DCMS is receiving further support from Whitehall Departments including Home Office, FCO, DIT, BEIS and HMT.

Ofcom: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2020 to Question 1977, how the new statutory functions of Ofcom relating to online harms will be funded and resourced.

Caroline Dinenage: The Online Harms White Paper outlined that in order to recoup both the implementation costs and running costs of the online harms regulator, the government is considering fees, charges or a levy on companies whose services are in scope. This could fund the full range of the regulator’s activity. The government intends the new regulator to become cost neutral to the public sector.

Google: Data Protection

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many cases concerning Google have been investigated by the Irish Data Protection Commission since 25 May 2018.

Mr John Whittingdale: DCMS has no involvement in the work of the Irish Data Protection Commission. The Irish Government or the Commission itself might be better placed to provide information about the number of cases it is investigating concerning Google. Information on judgements and investigations is also available on the Commission's website at https://www.dataprotection.ie/.

Musicians: EU Nationals

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of EU-based musicians that have performed in the UK in each year since 2015.

Caroline Dinenage: No such estimate has been made. However, this Government recognises the important contribution made by EU-based musicians to this country’s live music industry. The UK already attracts world class artists, entertainers and musicians and we will continue to do so in the future. Future reciprocal mobility arrangements are subject to negotiation and DCMS has been working closely with the music industry to inform these discussions.

Music: Tourism

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of music tourists from EU countries that have come to the UK in each year since 2015.

Nigel Huddleston: My department has not made a direct estimate of the number of music tourists from EU countries that have come to the UK in each of the last five years. VisitBritain research shows that in 2017, over 2.6m international visitors attended a live music event while visiting the UK, representing 7% of the total visitors received.

Newspaper Press: Regulation

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he will meet with representatives of Hacked Off to discuss legislation changes that will ensure that all newspapers and their websites are independently regulated.

Mr John Whittingdale: The government is committed to a free and independent media. DCMS ministers and officials regularly meet with a range of stakeholders to discuss a range of issues, and will consider any proposals put forward with regard to regulation of newspapers and their websites.

Women and Equalities

Employment: Disability

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make it her policy to (a) publish the names of organisations that lose employment tribunals for disability discrimination and (b) allocate (i) resources and (ii) funding to support those organisations in improving their understanding of (A) disability discrimination and (B) their disabled employees.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will take steps to tackle organisations that discriminate against disabled employees.

Elizabeth Truss: We expect employers to comply with the law in their treatment of disabled employees. Employers who discriminate against such employees rightly run the risk of claims for disability discrimination against them being taken to employment tribunals, which have power to award unlimited damages (including compensation for injured feelings) in addition to any award made in relation to employment law claims (such as loss of earnings).Employment tribunal judgments, including those involving disability discrimination, are publicly available at https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunal-decisions. Guidance for employers to help them avoid claims for disability discrimination against them are available from Acas and from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).In 2019 the EHRC published two pieces of guidance; a guide to help employees including disabled staff challenge discrimination at work, and a guide to help employers understand their responsibilities to provide disabled staff with additional support and workplace adjustments.